


Babies on Board

by CrinklyTinfoil



Category: Primeval
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Canon Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Eventual Sex, F/F, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Family Loss, Gen, Humor, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Slow Burn, Trauma, Will add tags when it happens, somewhat canon compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:53:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 46,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26020717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrinklyTinfoil/pseuds/CrinklyTinfoil
Summary: Bobbie Slater is a mostly normal delivery driver just going about her rounds when she gets caught in a crash with a bunch of shady looking black cars. She ends up with a mysterious box that's making a lot of noise and is about to unleash a whole lot of responsibility she was ill prepared for... and Lester didn't think there was any sympathetic foster families out there. This starts right in the middle of Season one Episode Six.
Relationships: Canon Relationships - Relationship, future predator female/oc
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. It begins with bad driving

It was a nice day outside as the sun shown down onto the streets of Gloucester. A large white van with a splash logo of orange and yellow across its sides shouldered its way through the traffic, weaving with expert ease through the mid-morning sun. The occupant inside of it was already a little bit tired — after all, she had been up since about six that morning and was looking forward to the end of her shift

Bobbie Slater flipped on her turn signal, guiding her large delivery van through the streets. She was a large woman, standing at about 5’ 9” with hair that had been cropped up behind her ears. He features were hard and chiseled like her father’s, and her muscles bulged out from the sleeves of her company-issued shirt. She looked like someone who spent a good deal of time in the gym in order to maintain her looks.  
Her hand lifted to her mouth to hide a tired yawn. The physical labor of her job, the moving of boxes and barrels, delivering to whatever companies had placed orders to her parent company… it was not strenuous to her, but the early mornings were a killer. Bobbie used to work the night shift, and the shock to her system when she had changed had not been a pleasant one.

Still, she hadn’t argued (she never did in these situations) when her boss had changed her hours, so she had only herself to blame, really… She turned up the radio, which was playing a song with a quick-paced beat and chipper lyrics that clearly labeled it as a pop song. She tapped her hands on the wheel with the beat of it as she stared out at the sun.

Bobbie Slater had been a delivery driver for heavy goods for a good five years now. Bobby enjoyed the work, mostly because it meant that her job allowed her to get a bit of a pre-workout in before she hit the gym after her shift. ‘No box was too heavy’ was her motto, though her boss had told her to knock it off. There were rules about how much one person was supposed to lift, but Bobbie had never been great at following rules. Her boss told her if she threw out her back, that was her business and he wasn’t letting her cite it as a workplace accident. So was their relationship.

She brushed some hair out of her eyes as she adjusted her mirror. Traffic had been pretty good this morning, though she’d had a couple of close calls. She was just not herself in the mornings, she thought as she wove expertly between traffic. It felt as though she was significantly rash than was typical.

As she turned her wheel, turning off onto a much busier section of the road, she heard her phone buzzing away in her pocket. Bobbie knew better than to talk on her phone when she was driving, but just knowing better had never stopped her before. She pulled it out of her pocket, swerving slightly as she slapped it on speaker before dropping it into the cup holder beside her. A car behind her honked angrily at her erratic driving and she grimaced, feeling a bit embarrassed. 

“Bobbie?” A voice echoed through her car, sharp and brisk, and Bobbie bit back a sigh.

“Hey mum, what’s up?” she asked, guiding the large van carefully through the traffic. Her mother rarely called her. She wasn’t one for social calls, so when it was her on the other end, Bobbie knew she had something bouncing around in that head of hers. She wondered which one of her siblings was in trouble now.

“I just wanted to make sure that you got those vacation days off that I asked you to get off. I haven’t heard back from you.” Bobbie’s eyes widened slightly, and her wrist twitched, causing the car to sway back and forth between the lines as she mumbled out her flustered reply. 

“Right, about that, mum… didn’t quite manage to do it. Boss says I can’t.” 

Her boss had flatly refused when she’d brought up the idea to him. After all, they were in their busiest season — plus, he hated giving her days off. She was the one person he could bully into coming into work, no matter how inconvenient it was for her. Bobbie may have been physically imposing to look at, but that sort of confrontation was really not her style. Plus, she didn’t want to argue with him on this one. The last thing she needed in her life was to be trapped with her brother, sister and mother.

“Land’s sake, Bobbie, I don’t give a damn what that man says. Don’t you go causing me a headache, that’s what your little sister’s there for.”

Bobbie wondered if there was any way to exit this conversation as she turned her steering wheel, sliding into the other lane. 

“Look, mum, I just can’t. Besides, you didn’t sound like you cared the last time we talked.” Her mother didn’t even bother pretending to be affronted by the accusation.

“Your brother’s bringing his fiancée around, and I want you to meet her before the two of them get hitched.” Bobbie snorted her head swiveling to stare at the phone. Her mother had been going on about this ever since her brother Ritchie had gotten engaged.

Her mother loathed Jessica, her brother’s bride-to-be. She was pushy, temperamental, and had at one point, according to her mother, referred to the lot of them as trailer park trash. Also, she was American, which made her mother nervous for a number of reasons, one of which was that she might ‘steal away’ her little boy. Granted, her mother did have right to take issue with her, but as far as Bobbie could tell, all of her downfalls made her fit in just fine with the Slater brood.

“Mum, if you’ve got some hackneyed plan to break them up, you’re just going to have to do it on your own. Not that it matters. Ritchie’s infatuated, and that’s that. Can’t you just make your peace with it?” Bobbie said, not liking the fact that she was once again being dragged into family affairs while at the same time knowing full well she should be watching the road and not staring at her phone in frustration. 

Her mother was deadly silent for several seconds, and Bobbie could feel the icy tendrils of her displeasure reaching out form the phone and wrapping themselves around Bobbies neck like a living thing.

“Fine, I’ll make my peace,” she said in a voice that informed Bobbie she had no intentions of making peace with the situation.  
“Tell me this, though, Bobbie… when you come on vacation with the family — and note that I say when, not if — can I expect you to be bringing along a plus one?”

“Mum, please,” Bobbie said, feeling flustered. “You know that me and Laurie broke up ages ago, and I haven’t really gone on any dates since.” Her mother clucked her tongue in a disapproving fashion, and as always Bobbie had to wonder if this was aimed at her choice in partner or the fact that she was still single.

“Well, you can always try men,” her mother said pointedly.  
Bobbie glared at the phone. 

“Funny. I’m going to hang up now.”

“I was kidding Bobbie, don’t take it so personally,” her mother snapped. Bobbie rubbed her temple as she shook her head.

“Mum, I’m driving, I need to get off the phone. What if I wreck? What then?”

“Then you’ll be fired, and you can come on vacation with the family,” her mother retorted, sounding huffy. Bobbie felt a small headache in the back of her head, the stress of the conversation beginning to grate on her.

“Goodbye mum, I love you. I’ll talk to you later.”

“But Bobbie...”

Bobbie leaned over and quickly ended the call. The phone beeped, signaling that the call had completed, and she gave herself a little shake. She and her mom had always faced a bit of a rocky road when it came to getting along, but recently it seemed to have gotten worse. She supposed she was getting on in age — hell, she’d be thirty in a couple of months — but she didn’t need to be nagged. 

As for dating other women… well, she couldn’t say she wasn’t used to the disapproval at this point. Her mother got better at hiding it every year, but it always seemed to linger.

As she thought this, her mind drifted to Laurie, and she felt a painful stab inside of her. She’d really loved that girl. Hell, she thought that she’d be sharing a life with her. She’d been pretty, with a long tangle of curling hair, a slender body, and a quick wit that always left Bobbie in the dust.

There’d been a lot of things against them, though. Laurie worked long hours for her government position, and often times their schedules simply did not match up. They’d go weeks without talking to one another, and after a while it became rather unbearable. That hadn’t been what had broken them in the end, though.

It had been the fact that Laurie had been keen on family life.

It wasn’t that Bobbie didn’t like children — she got on okay with most kids. She couldn’t even say she didn’t want children. The idea did appeal to her on some level. However, there was a little seed of doubt somewhere deep inside of her. 

What if she was a bad mom? It wasn’t like she’d had good models while growing up, and she questioned whether or not she’d ever be able to pass on good lessons.

That was what had hurt the most Bobbie thought as her lips turned downward in a frown. It wasn’t even that they’d simply fundamentally disagreed on the issue — it was that Bobbie had been too scared to take that next step. In the end, that had been what had broken the fragile thread holding their relationship together. It had stung, but admittedly it hadn’t been a surprise. Bobbie had always suspected deep down that Laurie was too good for her.

CRUNCH.

Bobbie’s head jerked up and she gave a shout of alarm as she heard the shrieking of horns and her van gave an alarming lurch. It teetered, the tearing of metal sounding form somewhere behind her as for a second, she was worried she was going to roll. She felt something shift in the back, and her breath caught in her throat. 

The van she drove was old, and the door had a bit of a faulty latch. This concern was underlined as she heard the crashing and thudding of what could only be boxes tumbling out from the back of her van.  
“Hell!” Bobbie groaned as the vehicle slammed to a stop against the sidewalk.

Hastily, Bobbie put the vehicle into park, leaping out of the passengers seat to get a look at the devastation she had caused. She felt her breath catch and a small whine exit her throat as she stared at the mess. Boxes were scattered about the road — boxes that belonged in her van. A black SUV of some sort had also had its doors ripped open, though fortunately it seemed there was nothing much in the back of it. A line of black cars was piled up behind it, and already people were spilling out.

To her relief, it became clear pretty quickly that it wasn’t her fault. A busted-up Ford with one headlight out was lying on its back. It seemed she’d been clipped during the accident, but nothing more. What a relief she thought, though her heart still beat fast in her chest. 

The boxes, the goods! She had to gather them up. Though most of what was inside wasn’t fragile, she could see a wooden box with holes along the side that she was quite frankly shocked hadn’t broken during the crash. 

She knew what box that was, too — or at least, she thought she did. She was pretty sure that was the box filled with produce for the local grocery store. She did have a delivery to make to them today, right? Regardless, that was the box she went for first, picking up the heavy wooden thing and sliding it back into her van.

It was as she started to gather up the rest of her deliveries that she saw the guns. Her heart slowed slightly as she turned, seventy five pound box tucked under her arm as she stared at the black thing. It hung from the shoulder of a man dressed like some sort of special force officer, and he seemed to be arguing quite viciously with the dazed looking man who had stepped out of the Ford.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t see you,” the man protested, though Bobbie thought this sounded like bull. The way he was swaying made her fairly sure he was hopped up on something, though she doubted it was anything too serious. Still, he’d have to be on some kind of drug to be talking the way he was to someone with a gun that big and with a scowl that consuming.

Quickly she started loading her boxes back into the back of her van. She was down to one box when she turned around and came face to face with a man. He had brown hair and a rather stoic looking face. Behind him hovered a girl with the palest blonde hair Bobbie had ever seen, and a black-haired man wearing a fedora. 

“Hey, you need some help?” asked the brown-haired man, giving her a smile.

Bobbie was at a loss for words as she glanced at the other boxes scattered about the road. 

“I… I mean, I suppose,” she said meekly, not actually needing help but also not wanting to come off as rude. The three of them hastily began to scatter out, picking up the boxes from the road as the woman with nearly white hair spoke up. 

“I’m so sorry we clipped you. That lunatic came at us from nowhere.”

She smiled as she handed Bobbie a box, and Bobbie quickly placed it in the back of her van. 

“Oh, it’s fine. My boss will have my head when he sees the damage, but… so is life.” The girl gave a laugh as the fedora boy spoke up. 

“Well, I mean, the police can back you up and say it’s not your fault. They’re heading this way right now.” Ah, there was a problem. Bobbie’s license had expired a full three months ago and she still hadn’t gotten around to having it redone.

“Well, I’ve really not got time for that. Bit of a strict schedule.” The woman quirked an eyebrow. “I mean, you’re going to get in trouble if you don’t wait,” she pointed out as the brown-haired man handed her the last of the boxes. 

“Well I…” began Bobbie, but she was thankfully cut off from her half-baked excuse by a shout from among the men.

“Steven, Abby, Connor — I need you back over here!” A blonde-haired man, followed by a brown-haired woman with a rather shifty looking smile was gesturing towards them in a rather frantic fashion. 

“Right, well, good luck mate,” the fedora-wearing boy said, as the three of them quickly made their way towards the man. Bobbie let out a sigh of relief as she closed her van door tightly, and made her way back over to the front, jumping into the driver’s seat. She carefully merged back into traffic just as the bobbies pulled up on the scene, thanking her lucky stars that she’d managed to evade them.

To her relief, the rest of her shift proved to be fairly simple. She dropped off her wares to shop owners, all of which had some remark they felt the need to share with her about the condition of her van, before finally her day was done. She was out of sorts, mind still buzzing from what she had seen.

Sure, Bobbie had seen guns before, but never guns like the ones those men had been carrying. Who had they been? Government, a crime syndicate, special ops? She didn’t know, but she got the feeling she’d had a brush with an interesting sort of folk. These thoughts kept her mind occupied all the way up to mid-afternoon which finally brought her shift to an end.

It was only after she parked her van, walking around to do one last check, that she saw that she had a problem. As she opened the doors and peered into the back, and odd sight caught her eye. It was that wooden box, sitting upright and shoved up against the back of the wall. She stared at it for a good few second, having to take a moment to process what she was looking at.

“Excuse you?” she asked the package as she stepped up into the back, the van creaking at her weight as she wandered towards it. Now that the adrenaline had worn off somewhat, she came to the conclusion that the box was actually quite odd. A wire grating was across the top of it and the holes about the sides looked suspiciously like airholes now that she was really looking at it.

“Hell’s bells,” she grumbled as she approached it, feeling irritation welling up inside of her. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to drop this damn thing off. Her boss was already going to have her head for the condition of the van, the last thing she needed was a mystery box that she’d failed to deliver. These thoughts began to fade however as she came to a stop a couple feet away from the package, tilting her head at the noises she was hearing inside.

It didn’t take a genius to realize there was something alive inside of the box. There was faint chittering from somewhere inside, along with soft wails that echoed out into the dark cramped van space. She didn’t usually do live deliveries, though one time she had delivered a rather large crate of chickens. The point was though, she would have known if she had had a live delivery and she was sure she hadn’t. But if it hadn’t been her box, then whose box was it?

She took a step closer and she felt her stomach suddenly lurch. The grating on the top was torn, and there was a clear streak of blood dripping down the side of the box. How she hadn’t see that before was a mystery to her. And still the keening continued, and the more she heard it, the more uncomfortable she grew.

Whatever was in the box, they sounded young. She said they, because it was abundantly clear there was more than one of them inside. Baby animals were squalling in fear and discomfort from inside the hastily constructed thing. 

She didn’t like hearing anything in pain, and this thought was enough to make her quickly move forward, kneeling down beside the box and placing a hand on either side of it. 

“Easy there, easy there,” she comforted softly as she peered into the black interior. Her van did not provide much light, but inside she could see four small shapes moving up in a frantic scuffle.

She stared down into the box, the blood dripping from the torn wires. It took her a good deal longer than it should have to figure out where her mysterious cargo had appeared form, but when it did finally hit her, it felt as though someone had slung a back of bricks into her stomach.

The black cars. One of them had been open, she remembered that now. The door had hung open, the back of it empty. What did it mean? She stared at the box for a good thirty second, looking at the black marks along its side. If it belonged to them, though, what in the hell was in this box? Obviously it was some sort of animal, but as she peered in, she realized that whatever was in the box moved in a very odd fashion.

Part of her was tempted to just stick her hand in and grab out whatever was inside of the box, but a stronger part of her held her hand back. She had no idea what these animals could be. What if they were aggressive? What if they were sick? However, these thoughts did not stop the war in her had. 

Whatever was in this box, no doubt she was not supposed to have it. But the cries from inside sounded so desperate, so sad.

Though part of her was tempted to give whatever was in this mystery box back, another part — a stronger part — point blank refused. Sure, she didn’t want to be caught in the crosshairs of some insidious plot involving these baby critters, but at the same time she couldn’t bring herself to just abandon them like that. Call it a hunch, but she was pretty sure that whoever those men had been, they did not hold good intentions for this bouncing bushel of babies.

“It’s all going to be okay,” she softly, tapping her fingers on the top of the box to get the attention of whatever was inside. The crying went quiet for a second, as though her words had grabbed the small critters’ attention. Against her better judgment she reached down into the box, her hand grasping and reaching for whatever was inside.

She touched one of them, but only for a second. With a soft curse, she drew her hand back as something inside of the crate bit her. She grimaced and shook her head as the wailing started back up. 

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She wasn’t mad at the babies inside of the box, no doubt her grasping fingers had scared them. Really, she thought to herself, annoyed by her own actions. I knew better, and I still did it.

She reached down again, but this time she grabbed the edge of the box, dragging it towards the back of the van. 

“I’m just going to bring my car around and I’ll get you home in a jiffy, okay?” This did not stop the crying, but it made her feel a bit better as she jumped out of the van, quickly walking across the parking lot. She worried slightly that she’d see… something crawling out of the hole on the top of the box, but whatever they were, it seemed they weren’t quite capable of doing something like that. Granted, the box was rather deep.

Bobbie drove a beat-up old blue Chevy that was parked at the edge of the car parks. It was one of those cars that you buy for super cheap, but end up being obscenely expensive because of the amount of money you have to pour in to fix the damn thing. She slipped inside and turned her key, her motor coughing to life. Quickly she backed it up all the way up to the van, before putting it in park and pulling up the emergency brake. It was important to use the emergency break on this vehicle — it had a habit of rolling otherwise.

The box was light, but she tried to be careful as she shuffled it into the back. She could feel whatever was inside of it shifting about, letting out unhappy cries as they did so. Out of the front grating, small black fingers with claws slid out, grasping at the air. The limb was small, almost sickly looking, and she stared at it for a good half second before it retreated back into the dark of the box. 

“Guess you must be monkeys,” she said to herself, though part of her suspected this wasn’t true as she rustled up a blanket from the back, draping it over the box. Once the box was sufficiently out of sight, she closed the back door of her car, patting it as she looked around the parking lot nervously.

“Now hold your horses, I’m going to go and clock out.” She felt a bit silly talking to her closed car door, but she supposed she was just doing her best to handle her anxiety. It wasn’t every day that Bobbie decided to cross powerful forces the identify of which was still a mystery to her. Still, those desperate cries rang in her mind… and out of her mind, as well — the babies were quite noisy, whatever they were.

She closed the van’s doors before walking around to the front of the car and getting in. The cries of the box where ear piercing, and she grimaced as she started up her car again. She drove it up to the front of the brick building her company operated out of. At the movement of the vehicle, the crying softened slightly, and she let out an exhale of relief as her ears were graced with at least a little bit of silence.

This peace was short-lived, because the moment she parked the wails started back up with a vengeance. She frowned as she slid out, shutting the door behind her. 

“Just a minute,” she muttered to the closed door, listening with discomfort to the crying she could still hear through the closed door. “I’ve just got to finish up.” 

With this, she turned and opened the glass doors of her building, stepping inside them as a blast of cool air washed over her.  
“Bobbie, you’re back later than expected.” 

Bobbie started at the voice as she looked around the slightly grimy waiting area. Customers usually called in to this location, so cleaning wasn’t exactly high on the list of things to do when it came to work.

The windows looking out were a bit grimy, and the hardwood floor had chunks taken out from it, along with several splatters of paint that had no doubt been spilled the last time their boss had the place redone. Speaking of their boss — that was not the person who stood behind the counter. Bobbie cast a cool look at the red-haired man whose grin she always felt was far too big.

His name was Roger, and he was in charge of looking after the phone lines while the drivers took out the deliveries. Bobbie did not like Roger, but she always made an effort to be polite to him. This effort was not returned. He had that gleam in his eyes today, too — the gleam that meant he was looking to get Bobby in some trouble.

“Some your customers called me up in a state, Bobbie. Said your van looked quite a mess. You get into an accident?” Bobbie eyed the man up, trying to keep her polite smile on her face. “I did actually, but it’s fine. Nothing damaged but the aesthetics.”

“That what you going to tell the boss when he sees the mess you’ve made? Customers seemed to think it looked quite bad.” 

Bobbie placed the keys on the counter in front of Roger, leaning in slightly. 

“I was the one who got hit, Roger.”

“I suppose you stuck around to get a copper to verify that?” Bobbie felt her eyes narrowing, but she took in a deep breath and steadied herself. She had babies in the car, it was not a good time to get in a slap out fight with Roger over something as petty as this.

“I’m sure he’ll tell me his feelings when he calls me. Look Roger, would you just take my keys? I hate the morning shift and want to be home.”  
Roger still had a cocky grin on his face, but he took her keys. 

“At least you got them back before Jarod got in — he gets right cranky if he doesn’t start his shift on time.” Bobbie had nothing to add to this as she walked around the desk and quickly punched out of the computer. She was halfway to the door when Roger called after her. 

“You’re in a hurry. You actually have something going on tonight?”

“It’s called catching up on missing sleep,” Bobbie said, without looking around. She was afraid if she looked around that Roger would be able to tell she was bluffing. Bobbie had never been the best liar, and was honestly quite frankly relieved as she stepped out of the shop, making it over to her car. It seemed to her, even before she pulled open the door, that the squalling inside had gotten louder.

She quickly slipped inside, shutting the door and starting the engine. 

“Noisy little things aren’t you,” she commented, glancing back at the covered crate. Part of her remembered the smear of blood, and she felt a little bit sick in her stomach as she wondered if one of them was hurt. Still, her hand ached, reminding her that she shouldn’t go reaching in that box again until she could actually see what she was doing.

“Maybe I can soothe you?” she leaned forward, flipping her radio on deciding she’d try and find a classical station. Rock and roll filled the car and in response the box began to shriek, causing Bobbie to slap the off button in a panic. 

“Geez! Okay, no music! It’s going to be a long drive without it, though.”

Gloucester was a nice place to live for the most part, but she wasn’t a fan of the traffic that got in her way when she headed back home. She lived out on the outskirts, her apartment complex out a little ways towards the Forest of Dean. 

Normally, the drive home was peaceful and gave her some time to reflect on work. Today though, the gibbering and shrieks from the back was putting a bit of a hole in her plans. She wouldn’t even get to stop by the gym today, which was a damn shame. Today was forearm day.

Bobbie had to admit she was slightly tempted to throw the shrieking box out of her car and off onto one of the sidewalks and make it someone else’s problem. Yet, far more overpowering was the growing urge to help the wee things. Maybe she did have motherly instincts, she thought as she glanced in the mirror, brows creased in worry. 

Motherly… mothers… parents. They had to have parents, didn’t they? Maybe that’s why they were crying, calling out for their parents, wherever they may be. And what of those parents? Somehow, Bobbie doubted that the acquisition of the small creatures in the back had been a gentle one. Where they perhaps, dead? That was a depressing thought to be sure Bobbie thought, grimacing as she clutched the wheel tighter.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of her phone and she jolted in her seat, her breathing coming in at a slightly quicker rate. She pulled it out from her pocket, half expecting to seem some sort of looming unknown number staring back at her. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was just her kid brother, Ritchie. She answered it, putting it on speaker before throwing it down into the cup holders beside her.  
“Ritchie, now isn’t a good time,” she said glancing unconsciously at the box behind her. The babies inside still wailed, and she wondered how much of their noise her brother could hear.

“Bobbie? What in the hell am I hearing on your end? You need to take your car into the shop or something?” he demanded, and Bobbie thought quickly before deciding not to tell him about her little troupe in the back.

“Something like that,” Bobbie said, wishing she was a better liar. She quickly cleared her throat, as she asked in an overly friendly voice. “Why the social call, little brother?”  
Ritchie let out a huff of air, and just by that noise she already knew what he wanted to talk about.

“Bobbie, did mum call you already?” Bobbie let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of her head.

“Yeah, she did. Still doesn’t seem too keen on that girl of yours.” Ritchie cursed angrily and she could heard some crashing over the line. 

“Goddamn it, I told her to lay off! But no, of course she calls you, bitch. Jessica is an absolute angel, I don’t know why she can’t see that!”

“Yep,” Bobbie said, not wanting to get drawn into this conversation.

“I mean, I know she says things sometimes, but she’s from America. She doesn’t know any better.”

“That’s rough.”

“You’re doing that thing where you refuse to engage again aren’t you?” her brother said, sounding peeved. “Is that something you got from therapy?”

“I just know this conversation not going to go anywhere good,” Bobbie said honestly.

He was quiet for a second — they both were. 

“Fair point I guess,” he said finally, clearing his throat. “So, uh, you really not coming on vacation with us, Bobbie?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” lied Bobbie through her teeth. “It’s just that it’s the busy season right now at work.”

“Right, and it’s got nothing to do with the fact that mum’s going to use the whole trip trying to make me call off the wedding?” Ritchie said, before saying with a laugh. 

“Honestly, Bobbie, you are the worst liar. It’s a wonder dad ever trusted you to help him with his side projects.”

Bobbie flinched. She didn’t like talking about dad. It was a touchy subject for all of them, what with him being in jail and all that. 

“Well, I wasn’t exactly vying to get in on that action if I’m honest,” she said as the crate gave a particularly loud wail. Her brother let out a slew of curses, and she could tell that he was holding the phone away from his ear.

“Damn, Bobbie do you have an animal in your car? More specifically a dying animal?”

Bobbie opened her mouth, before shutting it again. Something told her that getting her family involved in this wasn’t the best idea. 

“Just the engine,” she lied, and she could feel his skepticism from the other side. “I better get going. I’ll talk to you later Ritchie,” she said hastily, wanting the conversation to end.  
Her brother let out a long, heart felt sigh. 

“Fine, keep your secrets. Just, whatever animal your transporting… don’t let it bite you. The last thing I need is for you to be in the hospital. Mum would have a conniption!” Bobbie laughed at this a bit weakly, fully aware that it was far too late for that.

It was a relief when she finally reached her flat. It was a standard five-story affair, and it loomed about a rather shabby looking patch of grass that was always full of dog shit. The residence in her neighborhood weren’t great about picking up after their pets, and if you were smart, you’d stick to the small concrete sidewalks that wrapped around.

Despite being new construction, the place looked older than the cathedrals about town. It gave off the air of a place that had always been old, even when it was first constructed. A gloomy tree sprouted out in the middle of the partially brown lawn, its limbs sad and drooping.

Bobbie navigated into the chipped lot, noting that as was custom, someone had stolen her spot. Not just any someone, though, she thought with a wrinkled brow as she passed the squat little light blue bug that occupied her parking spot, but her neighbor Beth. She really did dislike that woman, she thought with a sigh she navigated her car all the way over to the guest parking of which one spot remained unoccupied.  
She parked her car before quickly making her way around to the back and pulling out the squalling crate. Or at least, it had previously been squalling. It seemed that the babies inside had worn themselves out, and now meager whines and cheeps emitted out from the wooden prison. 

“Look at that, we’re home!” she said to the box, noting with worry the blood stain that was now obvious on the blanket she’d used to cover the crate. She decided to leave the blanket on as she pulled the wooden box out and shut the car door behind it.

With undignified movements she stumbled up her sidewalk, the crate in her arms and blocking her view as she went. These doors were locked, and she was forced to put the box down to fish out her keys and let herself inside. Fortunately, there was a rickety old elevator that ran through most of the building, though a bold white notice on the front informed her that more than three people at a time was highly discouraged. The elevator wasn’t the strongest bit of machinery in the world.

The metal box whizzed down to her, banging and clanking all the way when she hit the call button and she maneuvered her way inside with some difficulty. She bumped the button for the third floor with her elbow, watching as the door slid shut and the elevator rumbled upwards. It was a quick trip, and with a rather distorted ding, the door slid open.

She hobbled down the hallway towards her apartment just in time to see the door next to hers swing open. Her eyes narrowed as she held in a burst of irritation as her neighbor stepped into view. Beth, the owner of the blue buggy which was parked in her spot, was an older woman.

She had a mess of grey hair on her head and blue eyes that were keen as a hawk when it came to wrongdoings in the apartment. Also, she was a spot-stealer and owned a significant amount of cats. Bobbie often heard the meowing through the walls at night, and she was honestly surprised that Miss Beth had not been caught by the landlord.

It seemed Beth was just heading out, but as her eyes turned, falling on the covered crate they narrowed suspiciously. Bobbie walked by, placing the box to the floor as she pulled out her keys, trying not to engage.  
“Bobbie Slater, what’s under that blanket?” Bobbie looked towards her precious parcel, thankful that the babies were being quiet.

“A good afternoon to you to Miss Beth.” Bobbie said as she slid her key into her door. 

“It’s nothing special, just a box.” Beth raised her eyebrows, clearly not believing a word of what her neighbor was saying. From inside the box, a chirp was heard, and Beth’s eyes narrowed into slits.

“It’s nothing to be concerned about.” Bobbie assured, really tempted to go inside and ditch this conversation. Another cry emitted out form the box, causing Beth to purse her lips in displeasure. 

“You know you have to be pre-approved if you’re going to bring animals into the building, correct?” Bobbie bristled and she felt a fire light in her chest. She turned and narrowed her eyes at the woman, folding her muscled arms as she asked. 

“Remind me, Beth, how many cats do you have?”

Beth stared at her for several seconds, before locking her flat with a click. 

“It better be a quiet box,” she snapped, before turning on her heel and marching down the hall. Bobbie stuck her tongue out at the retreating back, before realizing how childish that was and quickly went into her flat.

She didn’t do much more than turn on the lights as she got in, making a beeline through the living room and to the bathroom. She had to open the box now, and the bathroom was the only place she felt comfortable doing this. She wasn’t sure how small the babies were, but she didn’t want them loose and about in her house at least not until she knew what they were. 

Whatever was inside of it, it would be easier to contain if she opened it somewhere with a door.

Her bathroom was a fairly average place. It was tidy enough, her toothbrush at home in a holder and the floor having been swept only a couple of weeks ago, the trash emptied yesterday. She couldn’t claim the title of neat freak, but Bobbie did make sure to clean every once in a while. There were a couple of stains in the shower, and the sink could use a good scrub, but otherwise she felt it looked okay. 

She set the create down on the off-white tiled floor and took a deep breath as she stared at it. Now was the moment she thought as she reached down, removing the blanket from it. 

“Okay then, let’s get a look at you,” she said as she removed the side of the box with the metal grating, kneeling down to the ground so she could peer inside.

At first, she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Her mind refused to register what it was she was seeing and she simply she stared in the box for several seconds. Then, her hand shot to her mouth as she had to muffle a small gasp of alarm. 

She now knew one thing for sure, she thought as she stared at the contents of the box as their small, eyeless faces turned to look at her. Whatever these things were, there was no way they came about by natural means.

She’d stolen a box of baby monsters.


	2. Bundles of Bites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie is now faced with the reality that she has four injured future predator babies in her flat and none of them feel like behaving

Bobbie needed a second to recover as she stared at the scene in front of her. Her mind reeled as she tried to find the right words to describe the creatures that were carefully making their way out of the box on unsteady legs.

Their heads were bulbous, making her wonder if their brains were swollen in some way. They had no eyes — just smooth skin. They were small, about half the size of a cat, with odd chin spikes beneath mouths full of tiny serrated teeth. As one of them pulled its way out, she saw the beginnings of a small tail on the back. They moved like apes, leaning forward on the two fingered hands as they scuttled forward with an ungainly grace.

There were four of them, all of them tumbling in a graceless fashion over one another as they made their way out of the cramped interior. She noticed the dried blood quickly, taking note of lacerations on two of them. It seemed the wounds had already clotted, but they were clearly still painful as one baby let out a yelp as another accidentally stumbled into it.

Bobbie was caught between emotions. Sure, these things were what nightmares were made of, but at the same time... piteous whimpering was coming from the babies as they staggered out onto the bathroom, pausing and turning to chitter between one another as though speaking. Bobbie felt empathy rising up inside of her, even as her hand warned her not to make any sudden movements towards them. Carefully, she reached out a hand, causing the chittering to pause as the babies stared at it in a suspicious fashion. A fearful fashion.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she assured them as she reached for one of the injured ones. It made a swipe at her, staggering back with a whine as the other babies retreated back into the box, cowering into the dark. 

“Wait! I don’t want to hurt you!” she insisted as her large hands caught the baby who had fallen, lifting them up. There was a nasty gash on its small black shoulder. It had clearly gotten caught on the wire grating when the car had crashed, and the rip was painful to look at.

It bared its small teeth, but she hastily pulled it to her chest, cradling it. Like a human baby she rocked it, hushing it as she got a better look at its injuries. The other babies peered out at her from their crate, heads cocking to the side. 

“Easy there, easy…” Bobbie cooed as she felt the small black critter relax somewhat. 

“You’re safe, all of you are safe.” The baby looked up at her and chittered quietly, no longer fighting her grip.

“There we go.” She carefully placed the baby back onto the floor, before looking back over to the other ones who were carefully meandering out of the crate, their movements still wary. 

Were these naturally occurring beings, or scientific experiments gone wrong? Bobbie had no idea, and honestly she supposed it didn’t matter as she carefully examined the rest of the babies as they fully emerged from the crate, their heads angled up at her as those eyeless faces seemed to peer into her soul. 

For creatures that lacked the ability to see, she noted they were very good at getting around.  
“Oh you poor things,” she said as she looked between the four. 

“You poor babes.” Her eyes darted between the visible injuries. One had cuts on its small shoulder — another’s head had a long streak of blood. Another was walking in a funny fashion, and she got the feeling its arm had suffered when the car had been hit. The final one looked just fine, but it was moving slower than the rest and she wondered if it had suffered from internal injuries. Hopefully not, she thought with a grimace, hopefully it was just sore. After all, it wasn’t as though she could bring any of these babies to a vet.

“Right, I need clean you up, don’t I?” she said, more to herself as she stood up, opening up her swinging mirror. She stared at the items that were behind it, a frown emerging on her face. She could at least disinfect the wounds, she thought as her eyes fastened onto the rubbing alcohol, but she wasn’t sure what she could do for the one with the bad arm or the one who just seemed to be in a bit more pain than its peers.

She reached for the alcohol, then paused. What if this was bad for them? She didn’t know anything about biology, but images of highly unlikely events began to play out in her mind. 

What if it was like baking soda and vinegar? What if it made them explode? 

Obviously this was ridiculous… at least, she thought it was. Still, she decided not to risk it, instead turning on the water in her stink. She wrinkled her nose as the soap scum that crusted the bottom, and hastily tried to rub it away with her hand, before she closed off the drain and let the basin fill partially up.

Water would hurt less than alcohol, she reasoned as she looked down. The baby with the injury on its shoulder was the one she picked up first. It struggled slightly at her touch, but quickly relaxed as she placed it into the sink full of lukewarm water. 

“Just hold still,” she said as she ran gentle hands along it, washing the grime from its small body. It slumped down on its butt, the water coming up to its chest as it splashed the surface with its claws. It was… adorable.

Carefully she began to wash the wound, red blood leaking down and tinging the water. It let out another cry of discomfort, but that didn’t last long. Bobbie bent down, retrieving the baby with the gash along its back. It struggled more, hissing as she did so, and its little head whipped about as it tried to take a chunk out of her.

“Not today,” Bobbie said a she plopped the small creature in with its sibling. The creature’s protests died as it too became fascinated by the water. It splashed its small claws in it, before looking up and sending a large splash of water at its peer. There was chittering as the two staggered to their feet and Bobbie watched in fascination as they began to play fight.

“Aren’t you tough?” she said with amusement. This faded quickly as she looked down, catching sight of the other two on the ground. The baby with the bad arm was exploring her bathroom, damaged arm curled up to its chest as it did. It tried to jump up into the tub, but its one small hand was not enough to haul it up.

The other baby had moved beside her toilet and was laying down, small chest heaving up and down. Bobbie felt a horrible sickness in her throat, but gulped it back as she decided to deal with one problem at a time. She knelt down, opening the drawer beneath the sink and retrieving her first aid kit. Inside were bandages, which Bobbie retrieved before looking back towards the baby with the bad arm.  
For someone whose arm was at the very least twisted, the baby was still very active. It had managed to once more catch hold of the slippery surface that was the edge of the tub and was trying to haul itself upwards. 

“Careful!” Bobbie protested as the baby fell back, sprawling in a squalling heap onto its back.

She reached out, catching the small thing. It protested loudly, but she ignored its protests as she pulled it forward to her, her hands touching its arm gently. It gave a slight snarl, and this time she didn’t react quickly enough as its head whipped around and it sunk its teeth into the soft flesh of her hand. Bobbie winced. 

“Well that’s not very nice of you, I’m only trying to help,” she said as she watched the blood begin to leak from between its small teeth that still latched deep into her flesh.

“Do you go around biting all the people who try to help you?” It released her hand, gnashing its small teeth as Bobbie rubbed her bleeding hand against her pants. 

“Let me just wrap your arm,” she insisted, but the baby hissed, swiping at her with its bad arm. Well, at least she knew that it could use that arm. 

“You’re kind of an ornery little thing, you know that?” she said as she rose to her feet, still holding the baby. She plopped it into the bath with its peers, hoping that the arm was nothing more than a sprain.

She watched as the other babies approached it, small hands reaching out as though in concern as they let out soft cooing noises towards their peer. The baby with the bad arm hissed, splashing them with water as they approached as it let out a flurry of chittering and squeaking. 

“Good to know I’m not the only one you’re bad tempered with,” Bobbie said as her attention was pulled away, her eyes once more fixing on the baby curled up by the toilet.

It did not resist as she picked it up, cuddling it to her chest. She looked towards the babies who were still playing in the sink, trying to decide what to do. 

“What’s wrong with you, sweetie?” she asked, holding the limp baby in her hands as she stared at its small weak form. Tucking it into the crook of her massive arm, she looked back towards the other, feeling slight concern. They seemed safe enough, and she would only be gone for a couple of minutes.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” she said to the splashing babies as she backed out of the room, closing the door with a snap. She had come up with a temporary plan so she could keep an eye on the baby currently nestled in her arms. She wasn’t sure if it would be alive for much longer, but she didn’t want to leave it alone on the bathroom floor. If it was going to die, she at least wanted it nearby.  
Her flat consisted of three rooms. Her living room which was combined with her kitchen, her bathroom and her bedroom. Her bedroom was an odd beast of a place, and as she opened the door to it she was once more struck with how she should redecorate. Along the walls still hung the Christmas lights her old flame had set up when the two of them were still together. A small desk sat in one corner of the room, hosting a laptop and a rather rickety chair.

In the other corner sat a dresser that was slightly ajar, jammed packed with clothes. Bobbie’s bed was simply a mattress on the floor. She’d never bothered to buy a frame, figuring it really was just a waste of money. She moved to the jammed full drawer, pulling it open and rooting through the clothes inside. As she did so. As she did this, her hand came into painful contact with the edge of something and she grimaced, before gripping it and pulling it out.

She stared at it for a second, gazing at the framed picture of her and Laurie. It had been taken while they’d been hiking in The Forest of Dean, a place that Laurie had really been fond of. Or at least, had been fond of. About a year ago she’d started to act real evasive about the place and Bobbie hadn’t been back since. 

She stared at the picture, her mind temporarily removed from her current situation. The bundle twitched in her arms, jerking her back to reality as she looked down at it.

The small creature gave a faint cheep its head turning towards her as it did so. 

“Hey you,” she said, placing the picture down on the top of the dresser as she lifted the baby up, holding it to her chest. “You’re going to be alright.” 

She continued her search, this time only stopping when she found what she’d been looking for.

Her girlfriend had loved her shawls, and when she’d left she’d taken most of them with her. However, Bobbie had found this one lodged way at the back of her closet during the massive clean up after their breakup. It was an older one, made from a light, almost silky material. It was a turquoise blue and had small frills that hung off of the sides of it. Quickly, Bobbie tied a knot in the lower half, before fastening over her shoulder and under her arm to create a small pouch.

“Here we go, you can go in here,” she said, carefully depositing the small creature into the makeshift carrier. She felt it turn, and its small head peeped out at her from where it lay, strapped tightly to her chest. Bobbie glanced at the photo on her dresser, before shrugging. She could put it away later she supposed, she had more important things to be doing. She forced the drawer’s lid shut opening up the door and walking briskly back into her living room.

The baby on her chest gave a mournful wail, and Bobbie looked at it, trying to interpret its meaning. 

“You want something don’t you?” she said as she came to a stop, staring down at it. 

“What, though?” 

As she thought this, she felt her stomach give a rumble, and she realized how hungry she was. Then a thought occurred to her.   
“Oh, oh… you’re hungry too, aren’t you?” Quickly, she made her way over to her fridge, baby bouncing against her chest as she walked. 

“You’re probably not the only one either — your siblings are likely famished.”

She pulled open the fridge, wrinkling her nose at the smell of stale leftovers that wafted out of it. She really did need to make a mental note to clean it she thought as she quickly pulled out the Styrofoam container that held the juicy slabs of meat from the front of it. She’d been defrosting meat to eat as her lunch, but now her food was forfeit. After all, the babies didn’t exactly look like fruit was part of their diet, and she supposed having a salad instead of a steak wasn’t going to end her.

She retrieved her cutting board from behind her sink and grabbed one of her carving knives. She didn’t trust the babies to eat the meat without choking on it, so she was determined to cut it up for them. She cut through the meat, the blade tapping against the wooden cutting table as she did so. She felt the baby inside her makeshift pouch shift, and she reached down, retrieving a sliver of meat for it. She dropped it into the small mouth, and watched as it slowly began to chew.

“Well you seem a bit more active now…” Bobbie began when her attention was stole away. A crash echoed out from her bathroom. She jolted, nearly cutting herself with the knife as her head swiveled. 

“Oh no, what are you doing?!” she called out as she slapped down her knife and jogged over to the door. She pulled it open, staring in amazement at her bathroom. 

“H… how?” she stammered as she stared around the carnage.

What had once been a semi-clean sanctuary was now trashed. Her shower curtain had rips torn through it from tiny claws, and her swinging mirror had been opened, medicine and makeup alike having been knocked to the floor. Inside of it balanced the baby with the bad arm, gnawing on the end of an eye liner pencil.

“Oh, no! Don’t do that! That’s bad for you!” Bobbie lunged out and snatched away the pencil, causing the baby to squeal out a protest. Its eyeless little face turned towards her and it let out a hiss.

“Don’t you get grumpy!” she said as she snatched the baby form its little alcove, depositing it onto the floor. “Where are the rest of your siblings?”

There were no babies left in the bath. The baby with the cut on its shoulder had crawled up to the toilet and was fighting with the lid, clearly keen on getting it open. The baby with the slash on its back was nowhere to be seen, but ominous noises rattled out from the cupboard below her sink.

“No to that!” Bobbie said as she deposited the baby with the bad arm on the floor, before lunging and grabbing the other one off of the toilet. 

“And no to that!” She continued as she dropped to her knees, pulling open her cupboard doors. She stared as she watched the baby shred a roll of toilet paper, its little claws making quick work of it. 

“Unbelievable, I left you alone for five minutes!” she said as she reached in, hauling the little thing out despite its protests. “Forces of chaos, the lot of you!”

The babies on the floor were all chittering, waving their little arms in the air as she towered over them, their sibling still firmly strapped to her chest. 

“I’m nearly done slicing up food for you, just… be good for ten more seconds!” she insisted as her eyes darted to the crate. The babies scattered as she slid it across the floor, blocking off the entrance to the cupboard with a triumphant. “There!”

As she made her way back to the kitchen, she was quite frankly amazed. Those babies may have looked helpless, but damn they were little troublemakers. For the amount of damage those three had taken, she was amazed that they could still move around as well as they could. It was almost charming she thought with a slight smile, though it faded slightly as she realized just how much cleaning she as going to have to do in the bathroom. 

Not only that, but apparently a new shower curtain was in her future. She wondered which baby she had to blame for that.  
She quickly diced the meat, ignoring the rustling and crashes from the bathroom. As she chopped the meat, she continued to feed small chunks to the baby strapped to her chest. It seemed to become more lively with each bite of food, and she wondered if it had just been hungry. Once she finished chopping two steaks, she slid the chunks off the cutting board, depositing them an a white porcelain plate.

“Okay, okay you little ruffians. I’ve got your food, good heavens,” she called, walking towards the bathroom door. She opened it carefully, not wanting to accidentally send any babies flying. However, as her eyes scanned the bathroom, she realized she needn’t have worried.

She came to a halt as she stared at her sink. Two of the babies, the two with open lacerations had crawled back inside. They sat, half submerged in the water with her bottle of toothpaste. The cap lay discarded on the floor and one of them squeezed the end, causing the fluoride to come pouring out of the end as the other grabbed handfuls of it, smearing it across its body.

“HEY, PUT THAT DOWN!” she roared, nearly smashing the plate as she deposited it on the ground, rushing to the babies. They gave alarmed shrieks as she wrested the toothpaste from them, washing off the remnants that clung to their small bodies.   
“That could be poisonous for you!” she said, feeling anger that spawned from the concern blossoming up inside of her. The babies let out irritable cries and she scoffed, glaring at them. 

“Troublemakers, the lot of you,” she said as she placed them both on the floor. 

“Now…where did your sibling go?”

She turned around her eyes finding the shower rod. Hanging from it was the baby with the bad arm. By some feat, it had managed to climb up the shredded shower curtain with one arm and was now dangling from it as small chitters of what seemed to be alarm left its mouth.

Its little feet kicked in the air as it dangled by one arm, its clawed hands slipping. 

“NO!” she lunged forward, catching the baby as it fell with a small wail. It landed in her arms with a soft plop, turning its head around to stare at her with that oddly alien face and it let out a disgruntled little hiss. 

“Sass,” she said, walking over to the plate of food which was now surrounded by the two other babies. Wait… her eyes narrowed as she realized that only one baby had actually stayed behind to eat.

“Okay, where’s the other one?” 

Her question was answered by a crash from somewhere in her kitchen, the sound of a dish shattering. She looked to the door, realizing that in her haste to prevent premature death she’d left it cracked open. 

“You little bastard…” she said in disbelief as she stepped over the two eating babies, quickly making her way out of the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. It didn’t take her long to spot the runaway.

Her kitchen was quite sparse, but she did have a rather nice wooden table. She’d had to deconstruct it to get it up to her apartment and reconstruct it once she’d gotten it inside. It was one of the nicer looking things she owned and because of this she tried to keep it looking pretty.

On it were several glass candleholders that were in the shape of pure white flowers. Their glass petals sprawled out, allowing a candle to burn in the center of them. She’d always been a fan of fire, and as she’d grown older she’d managed to mute her firebug tendencies by simply buying herself loads of candles to keep around the house.

Right now, it wasn’t just candle holders and candles that were on her table. The baby with the cut on its shoulder sat, peering over the edge of the table like a guilty cat as it seemed to stare down at the glass shards of what had once been one of her nice candleholders. The candle that it had contained — a candle that smelled pleasantly of pine and burnt firewood — was now being gnawed on by her current houseguest.

“THAT IS NOT FOOD!” 

She sprinted across the floor, grateful she hadn’t yet removed her work boots as the crunched across the broken glass. She scooped the small creature up, extracting the candle from its mouth furiously. It wailed in protest, grabbing at the candle with its small arms, clearly keen on chewing on it more.

“You absolute criminal, I give you food and you try and eat my candles. What is wrong with you?” she demanded, marching to the bathroom door which she reconfirmed in her mind, was in fact closed. She opened the door and quickly placed it down with its other siblings were already a good way through the meat. To her relief, this time the baby started to eat, and she shut the door, fuming slightly as she tested the handle, making damn sure it was closed. These things were… destructive, to say the least.

Well, most of them were, anyway. She glanced down at the baby who was still in the turquoise pouch. She’d only felt it move a couple of times and carefully she slid away the fabric, taking a look at the small creature underneath. It was still breathing, she was sure of that, but beyond that she felt that nothing was certain.

The third steak that had been in the package still sat on the counter, and she walked over to it, slicing thing bits of meat off as she offered it to the small baby in her pouch. It lifted its head, tiny maw opening to receive the food as it chewed it slowly. It still seemed low on energy, and she stared down at it with growing worry. She offered it piece after piece of meat, gently petting its small head with her to fingers as she coaxed it to eat more and more food. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with this one, but looking at it made her worry.

It reminded her of the birds who hit the windows of her house as a kid. They’d seem okay — alive… but sluggish when she’d put them in a box and bring them inside. And then, they’d just… lay down and die.

She never knew why — she still didn’t fully understand it. Probably it had something to do with the fact that they’d hit their head so hard. Was that it? Had this baby hit its head? She reached into her sling, lifting the baby out to cuddle it to her chest.

It looked up at her with its eyeless face, softly chittering. Then, to her surprise, it crawled upwards. Small arms encircled her neck as though it was a baby monkey hugging its mother. Its grip felt weak, but despite its sluggishness, it seemed fairly well balanced on its perch. 

“At least you seem to have a bit of energy,” Bobbie said hopefully. She glanced over at the glass shards on her floor, before sighing and deciding to deal with them later. Loud noises were the last thing she wanted to introduce at this moment. The baby on her shoulder let out a sort of cooing noise, and she reached up to stroke it.

Its body was so delicate and frail-feeling, and somewhere in the back of her mind she was afraid she might break it. As she thought this, she heard the noises of destruction starting up once more in her bathroom. She let out a groan as she glanced back at the door.   
“Welp, I think your siblings finished eating,” she said dryly, carefully extracting the baby from her shoulder and tucking it back into her sling.

She quickly made her way into the bathroom, stepping inside. To her relief, the babies hadn’t started and destructive rampages, but were instead huddled together. The chittered quietly to one another, as though speaking, each of them tilting their heads back and forth. The murmurs died down as she walked in and they turned to look at her.

Carefully she knelt down, and to her surprise the babies approached her, looking up at her with their eyeless faces. No, not at her she realized. At her sling. 

“Oh, do you want your sibling back?” she asked, quickly reaching inside and extracting the other baby. For a second she was hesitant to put the weaker baby down among the strong ones, but she brushed that idea off. Everything she’d seen so far indicated that these four were social creatures and they didn’t seem keen on hurting one of their own.

She placed the baby down onto the floor, watching as it swayed to its feet. Its siblings quickly surrounded it, and they nuzzled small noses against it as they seemed to support its weight. It sniffed at them, before turning around and with surprising agility, climbed back up Bobbie, sliding into the sling. She stared at the sling as it settled back down, before choking out.

“Have you been faking being hurt?!” 

It poked its head out, looking up at her for several seconds, before ducking back down into the sling. Bobbie let out a disbelieving scoff. 

“And here I was worried about you… honestly!”

She rubbed her temples before she gave an alarmed jolt. Her cell phone had begun to buzz, and she stared down at it, letting out a curse. She quickly picked it up and answered it as her buddy Josh’s voice filled the air. 

“Bobbie, the boys and I have been waiting for you to show up for a good half hour, where are you?” 

Right, the gym. She’d forgotten she was blowing off the gym.

Josh had been a buddy of hers since high school. The two of them had fallen in and out of contact over the years. It was just one of those things where Josh wasn’t always around — the man had a very active life. He’d been in jail for four years for selling meth, only to get out and go right back to jail for money laundering. She made a point not to ask him about his personal life.

Recently, he’d gone clean and had started working at a local grocers, or so he claimed. Honestly, she hadn’t looked into his story, really. It was Josh after all, she had no doubt he was up to something. 

Recently though, she and he had been going to the gym. Josh had really been trying to bulk up, and she liked having someone to go with, even if that someone often invited people along with him who looked like they probably had a rap sheet about as long as her arm.

“Right, can’t make it today. Sorry,” she apologized, and she heard Josh give a snort of disbelief. 

“And why the hell not? No offense, Bobbie, but I know you don’t have hobbies outside of pumping iron.” 

Oh god, he was right. Bobbie frantically tried to find an out for the conversation. 

“I, um, I adopted four pets.” She slapped her forehead. Why was she so shit at lying?

“You what?” Josh shushed what sounded like a rowdy group on the other end. 

“Guys, shut up for a second.” Bobbie heard this disbelief radiating in his voice as he held the phone back up to his mouth. “Wait, Bobbie, did you say you got four pets? What sort of pets? I thought your flat was picky?”

“Cats…” Bobbie said, her voice trailing off at the end as she failed to maintain her lie. “I got…four cats.”   
Josh was silent for a second. 

“Right, okay, cats. We’ll go with that. Bobbie, since when do you keep animals?”

“I found them?” she offered, wishing she had a better lie in stock. It was kind of hard to lie though with all those eyeless faces turned towards her. The babies were, for once, being quiet. They watched her intently as she spoke over the phone, apparently fascinated by the scene.

“You found them? What does that even mean? Bobbie, are you just blowing off the gym? You can tell me, you know.”

“No, really, I’ve got animals with me right now and I can’t!” protested Bobby, aware that every word that came out of her mouth sounded like a lie at this point. 

“Right, so apparently you need some you time. You could have just said,” Josh said dryly. 

“Just… tell me next time. I kind of was hoping to introduce you to a buddy of mine. He’s got a…job opportunity of sorts.”  
Bobbie groaned. 

“Josh, how may times do I have to tell you, I’m not joining a gang!” 

Josh gave a very unconvincing laugh. “What! A gang, who said anything about that? Look, I’ll talk to you about this tomorrow, okay Bobbie?”

“I don’t want to go back to jail Josh!” Bobbie said, but the man had already hung up. She shook her head, slipping her phone into her pocket. Classic Josh always trying to bring her on board with his…shenanigans. 

“You know, I think my sister right have been right about him being a bad influence,” she commented to the gathering of babies around her. 

“Still, he’s a great guy to lift weights with.”

She sighed and dropped her head back against her wooden bathroom door, staring up at the ceiling. It felt as though her world was falling apart, and she knew exactly who was to blame. She looked over towards the babies, who had now lost interest and were back to exploring her bathroom. 

“What am I going to do with you?” she asked, glancing down at the baby that balanced on her chest. It yawned a sleepy little yawn at her, chittering to itself.

It was mid-afternoon, crawling towards evening, but Bobbie could already tell she was going to be stuck at home. Somewhere deep down part of her had already accepted that she wasn’t going to go into work the next day. She couldn’t — not until she dealt with these babies. She straightened up, stretching out her arms as she looked between them. 

“Well, I can’t leave you in the bathroom all day.”

So, where to put them then? She looked at the door, realizing she’d likely have to put them in her bedroom. After all, there was no way she could let the wander about her kitchen. She kept cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink, plus there was the matter of the oven. So her bedroom it was. With this decided, she gave a soft call. 

“Hey, all of you, come here.”

The babies turned their heads and she opened her arms, beckoning them to her. To her surprise, they listened, gathering up at her feet and allowing her to pick them up in her arms. She stepped out of the bathroom as she made her way towards the bedroom.  
The moment she crossed the threshold of the bathroom door, the three babies in her arms began to struggle. She held them tightly to her chest. 

“Not a chance,” she informed them as she made a sprint to her bedroom, opening the door handle with her elbow before moving inside. Quickly, she closed the door with her foot before releasing the babies onto the ground. The second they hit the rug, she realized that the food must have really recharged them.

They moment their little black limbs touched the carpet, they were off, scattering like leaves in different directions.   
“Hey, hold up!” Bobbie said in alarm as the one with the slash across its back climbed onto her bed, ducking under her sheets. She heard her closet door creak as the one with the bad arm wiggled through a crack and her eyes found the baby with the scar on its shoulder struggling up the dresser. “COME BACK HERE!” Bobbie said, staring about in abject alarm.

They were just so quiet when they moved, she realized. How was she supposed to keep track of them all? 

Distantly, she heard a door slam as her neighbor Beth arrived home. An idea sprung to her mind as she glanced behind her at the door. 

“Right, make a mess, you three. I’ll be back, and when I get back I’ll have a secret weapon.” She warned, before turning on her heel and exiting the room, firmly shutting the door behind her.


	3. Controlled Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie continues her attempts to keep the babies under control, getting help from a couple of outside sources.

Bobbie would be the first to say it — she did not like Beth. Likewise, she had confidence that Beth was not fond of her as a person. Their rivalry as it was went back years, right to when Bobbie had first moved in. When first moving in her stuff, Bobbie had accidentally run into the cranky old woman, knocking the pair of them over and causing Beth to drop a full bag of cat food that had promptly spilled all across the floor.

Their relationship had continued to deteriorate since then. Bobbie’s music bothered Beth’s cats. Beth’s cats ran around like torpedos in the middle of the night, and woke Bobbie up with their yowling. Bobbie left a set of weights in the hall for ten seconds, and Beth tripped on them. Beth parked in her spot. 

On and on the list went, a gathering of small grievances that had grown up into a looming wall that could not be overcome.  
Yet, for all of it, Bobbie had always been aware of one fact about her neighbor. For as much as she disliked people, and hated Bobbie, she’d always had a love for animals. Specifically, cats. 

Bobbie could at any point of the day put her ear up to the wall and hear the jangle of bells as her cats pranced about her flat. It was this reason, and this reason alone that Bobbie was so keen on talking to her.

Bobbie had never seen Beth get rid of her animal stuff. In fact, she was sure the woman had a slight hoarding problem. There was always and odd sort of smell creeping out from under her door, a smell which could only be described as a massive number of felines. So in Bobbie’s mind, it stood to reason she’d have a lot of spare pet gear, and what Bobbie was specifically looking for in this moment was those annoying collars with small bells on them.

Now, how Bobbie was going to convince her neighbor who she was on less then pleasant terms with to relinquish said collars… she wasn’t sure. If she thought hard though, maybe she could find some sort of bartering chip.

She slipped out into the musty hall, walking over to her neighbor’s apartment. The smell of cat filled the air about her as she came to stand in front of the woman’s door. She could hear the meowing of many voices rising up in a mournful cry as they pleaded with their owner for food.

The small baby in her pouch poked its head up at their cries, looking at the door. Bobbie got the creeping feeling that it was trying to figure out whether or not the cats would make good prey. 

“Back down you go,” Bobbie insisted, pushing the baby back into her bundle.

Her hand hovered over the door for several seconds as she allowed the cat calls to die down before she apprehensively knocked. She lowered her hand, and waited for a good ten seconds, before determining that Beth was not coming to the door. 

Reluctantly, she raised her hand again and knocked harder. She heard something furiously slam beyond the door before shuffling footsteps approached it.

She felt a baleful gaze fasten on her from behind the peephole before the door was cracked open. Beth glared out at her from behind the door, her brows knitted together and her grey streaked hair mussed up. 

“Is there an issue, Bobbie? Because I’ve told you before, they quiet down after they eat,” the older woman said in a pointed tone.  
Bobbie shifted in discomfort, one hand still firmly keeping the small monster babe hidden within its blanket. 

“No, no, nothing like that Beth, I promise,” she said with a slightly nervous laugh. Beth did not look amused, and she began to shut her door. Bobbie hastily grabbed the crack, wincing as her fingers were crushed. Beth’s eyes glanced in irritation at her hand, then they widened slightly upon seeing Bobbie’s bleeding palm.

“Hey, look… you remember that box?” Bobbie said, eager to get Beth’s eyes off her damaged hand.

Beth turned her attention back to Bobbie’s face, her eyebrow raising. 

“Right, of course you do. It was only a couple hours back,” Bobbie laughed nervously and Beth suddenly looked a bit wary. Bobbie got the distinct feeling she was questioning as to whether or not Bobbie was high, and Bobbie quickly tried to pull herself together.  
“Right, so I had some animals inside of it, which I’m sure you guessed. However, I’ve gotten myself into a situation. They’re fast little blighters, and quiet too. Really hard to keep track of them.” 

She was rambling, and she realized she needed to wrap it up so she quickly cleared her throat. 

“But, er… look, do you have any spare collars? Like, ones your cats aren’t using right now?”

Beth gave a scoff as she fully pulled the door open. Behind her, Bobbie could see a well-lit apartment whose most defining trait was the cat hair that floated like dust through the air, and the floral pattern that seemed to coat every inch of the place. 

“And why in land’s name would I give those collars to you?” she said, far louder than necessary. “I didn’t think I needed to spell this out after all these years Bobbie, but you are not my favorite neighbor in the world. With your loud music, and your sketchy friends.”  
“It was one time, Beth and I only play my music when you’re out now,” Bobbie said, feeling a wave of annoyance. 

“What about the boy with the dark rings around his eyes, and the long dirty hippy hair?”

“That’s just my buddy Josh, and I swear he’s harmless,” Bobbie said pleadingly. “Mostly.”

Beth’s eyes drifted towards the sash she wore around her middle, and her eyebrows only seemed to raise higher as she saw it move.   
“And just what sort of animals are you keeping in their anyways? Are they legal?”

Bobbie opened her mouth, before shutting it again feeling like this was a bad idea. 

“Well…” she stuttered out, but before she could come up with a response she felt the satchel shift. The small black head of the baby popped out and it gave a small chitter as it stared at the woman.

“What… what is that!?” demanded the woman, waving her hand at it. Bobbie was at a loss of what to say as she frantically shushed Beth, petting the babies head to keep it from getting upset. Its small clawed hands wrapped about her hand and she smiled at it, before seeing that Beth had pulled out her phone. 

“ANIMAL TESTING!” Bobbie yelled, making the woman start, clutching her chest.

“W… what?” she asked, staring at Bobbie wide eyed. Bobbie was feeling a bit desperate, so decided this was the best thing she had.  
“Government animal testing is what they were being used for. I don’t know what they’re supposed to be, but they’ve clearly had some really bad things done to them. I mean, just look at this one.” 

She gestured dramatically down to the baby whose face was still angled towards the woman.

For all she knew, Bobbie might not be wrong. After all, if not that, then what? She had no idea what in the hell they were supposed to be, with their odd chin spikes and arched backs. Beth had gone quiet again, but a different expression was on her face. It was a softer expression than ones prior and she gazed at the baby, her head tilting to the side. 

“Oh…” Beth looked like she felt bad, and Bobbie suddenly felt shitty for her half-truth. Her alarm only grew as the old woman’s eyes began to well with tears. 

“But where… how? But they must be, because why else would they look like that?”

“Exactly,” Bobbie said as the woman stepped out of her flat, closing the door behind her as she peered at the baby. It stared back up at her, head cocking to the side and Beth reached forward with a trembling hand. 

“Maybe don’t…” Bobbie said, but to her surprise the baby leaned its head up, accepting the pat. “The dear’s not afraid of me.” Beth said, her voice full of assurance. “I’m quite good at reading animals, you know.”

Bobbie had her doubts, feeling the fact that Beth didn’t just get her hand bit was due to the fact that she was petting what was as far as Bobbie could figure the friendliest baby out of the litter. The small thing chittered up at the woman, and she withdrew her hand, tapping it against her chest.

“Right, and you say you want the collars to keep an eye on them?” Bobbie nodded her head and the woman seemed to consider her request, before taking in a deep breath. 

“Right, let me just go and search. I’m sure I’ve got some spares lying about somewhere.” 

She paused at her doorway before glancing towards Bobbie. 

“Would you like to come wait inside?”

Bobbie was floored. 

“Oh no, maybe not. I don’t know if your cats would like my little buddy.” A serious look crept up Beth’s face.   
“You have an excellent point. I promise I’ll be quick.”

The door shut and Bobbie stared at the wood, completely baffled.

“Well then,” she said finally, staring down towards her little bundle of joy. “Aren’t you a charmer? You can even make cranky old Beth sympathetic.” 

She shook her head, blown away by the interaction she was having.

The door opened back up and the woman appeared. In her hands she held a stack of collars, and she sorted through them. Bobbie noticed that along with the bells, small name tags hung alongside. 

“Will these work?” Beth asked, holding them out for Bobbie’s inspection. 

“Those will actually be perfect. But do you want to keep the tags?”

Beth eyed the tags that hung on the collars for half a second and she sighed and shook her head. “No I… I don’t have a use for them, and my flats getting a bit crowded.” 

There was an odd note of sadness in her voice, but Bobbie was too focused on not only getting tags for free, but getting names for free as well. She was terrible at naming things, and had already decided whatever the names were on those tags were the names she was giving the babies. 

The baby’s head rose once more from its makeshift cradle, and it cheeped at Beth. She smiled at it, reaching for a soft yellow collar. It seemed to be elastic and she stretched it out, fixing it about the babies neck with an easy motion. 

“There, I think that one suits you.”

She looked to Bobbie. “How many do you need?”

“Three more,” Bobbie said, smiling at the older woman. “Thank you so much, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this, Beth.” 

Beth nodded her head as she counted out three more collars and offered them out to Bobbie. But, as Bobbie tried to take them she jerked them away, her face suddenly pursing. “I want the parking spot in front of the flat.”

Bobbie stared at her, all good will fading towards her neighbor in a snap. 

“You’re young and fit and I’m old, I don’t want to lug my groceries all across the parking lot,” she said as she folded her arms. “And besides, now I’m going to have to keep quiet about this. I think I deserve the parking spot.”

She was in a corner and she knew it. She really really needed those damn collars. 

“Management said it was my spot, but I guess you can have it…” Bobbie said through gritted teeth. Beth smiled and offered her out three more collars which she snatched grumpily.

“I was here long before you were, and I’ve been parking in that spot ever since the first day I arrived. It was my spot — don’t be spoiled about it.” 

She smiled at the baby in Bobbie’s arms, waving her hand at it. 

“Goodnight, you two,” she said sweetly to it, before shutting the door.

“You could have bit her, you know,” Bobbie said, looking down to the little traitor who stared up with its blank face.   
“Next time I’m bringing one of your siblings with me — they’ll bite her for sure.”

It let out a cheep, and she grinned and shook her head. 

“I guess she picked a nice color for you if nothing else,” Bobbie said as she reached for the name tag that jingled about the babies neck. 

“Plus, free name! I appreciate that.”

She read it, her eyebrows arching in confusion as they did. The word “Izzy” was written in cursive on it. 

“Izzy — that’s a weird name for a cat…” Bobbie muttered, before shrugging it off. “Well, I guess you’re Izzy now.” 

Izzy burrowed back down into the nest, seemingly no longer interested in the conversation.

“Now, to band the others, and we’ll be good,” Bobbie said, quickly making her way towards her flat’s door. Her smile faded as she stepped inside, only to look up and find that her bedroom door was hanging open.

“Damn it…” she groaned as she hastily shut the door with a click behind her, locking it for good measure before glancing suspiciously about the room. The little stinkers couldn’t have gotten far — after all, there was a very limited amount of places they could go. Her flat only had three rooms in total, not counting closets, and the bathroom door was clearly still closed which narrowed down her options.

She took in a deep breath, eyes narrowing as she looked about the room. She had to think like a baby, she thought. She had to figure out what would be the most inconvenient place for her to go if she was small with big claws and a bigger tendency for mischief.  
The first noise to catch her ear was the clinking of pots and her head spun about, staring up at her kitchen cupboards. In five quick steps she’d reached them, flinging them open to reveal the first of her quarry.

“Ah ha!” she said, before her smile dropped and she stared in disbelief. The babe with the bad arm balanced on top of a pile of her saucers, the dishes swaying in an ominous fashion beneath it. 

“How’d you even get up there, you lunatic?!” she demanded. She reached out to grab the baby and it gave a cheep, leaping from the dishes as her hands clasped air.

The dishes tumbled about her feet, porcelain shattering as the baby ducked into the further reaches of the cupboards.   
“Not my dishware! You know how much plates cost?” Bobbie said, furiously reaching forward and flinging open the other set of cupboard doors.

The baby’s small claws skittered against the wood as it tried to find an exit, but it was too slow, and Bobbie caught it quickly. She held the squirming baby in front of her, ignoring its small claws as they nicked her hands. 

“You!” Bobbie said through slightly gritted teeth. “How do you get everywhere? Your damn arm’s busted!”

It gave a furious squeal as it flailed against her. She held it away from her as it seemed to have a full meltdown, squealing and thrashing against her hands. The baby in her pouch, the newly named Izzy, popped its head out, its face turned towards its sibling.   
“What a drama queen!” Bobbie said, shaking her head. “You’d think I was killing you.”

She felt a sudden clench in her stomach and frantically glanced at her neighboring walls. If her neighbors heard this racket… what on earth would they think? Bobbie hastily gathered the protesting baby into her arms. 

“Shush, shush, please don’t make my neighbors think I beat animals,” Bobbie said, rocking the baby back and forth.  
The baby stopped crying, letting out a nasty hiss. Bobbie was about to tell it off, when Izzy gave a chitter. Whatever had passed between them seemed to be inflammatory, because in a second the baby’s attention was off Bobbie and it seemed for all intents and purposes to be having a back and forth with its sibling.

Bobbie glanced at the collars. They were all made out of an elastic material, and she’d stretched them around her palm for safe keeping. She selected the red one, quickly sliding it onto the creatures neck. It gave a squeal of annoyance at her actions, which she ignored as she checked the tag.

“Morrie? Really, Beth?” Bobbie said to herself, beginning to wonder if Beth really was using cats to replace all of her human interactions. At this point, if she found a tag that read Bob, she wasn’t going to be surprised.

The baby, Morrie, gave a violent wiggle. 

“You know what, it suits you,” Bobbie said as she tucked the antsy baby under her arm, marching over to the bedroom. She closed the door firmly behind her, before setting the wiggling baby on the bed. In a second, Morrie was back on the floor, small claws scrabbling at its collar.

“Hey, don’t do that!” Bobbie said firmly, kneeling down beside the baby as she batted away its claws. It hissed at her, but seemed to temporarily give up on slicing its collar loose. Its small bell jingled as it ran about to the other side of her bed, disappearing from view.

Bobbie looked about her room, hoping against hope that the other troublemakers were still inside of it. She knew the other two either had to be out in the living room, or somewhere in here. The sooner she got the collars on them, the better, she thought, feeling as though she was in some sort of horror movie. There were monster babies loose all over her apartment and she had no idea where they might be.

“Okay babies, I know you’re in here somewhere,” she called out as she listened carefully for any sort of noise. It was harder to hear now that Morrie’s bell was clinking away, and with a sigh, Bobbie decided to step out of the bedroom and do a thorough search of her kitchen.

After exploring the kitchen and living room, she determined that Morrie must’ve been the only one to leave the bedroom. She turned back and made her way to the door, shoving it open.

“Two more to go, where are you?” she demanded as she closed the door behind her. At least she knew where Morrie was. They were once more in her closet — she could hear their little bell jingling away as the traversed the space inside. Then they let out a loud chitter, which was greeted in turn by another chitter. 

Bobbie ran to the closet and threw open the door. The baby with the scarred shoulder turned to look at her, but not in time to stop her from scooping them up. 

“It’s collar time,” she said in triumph, as she slipped a blue collar around the baby’s neck.

To her relief, other than a protesting cheep this baby did not struggle against her. Instead, it peered up at her, collar jingling about its neck as it seemed awash in confusion. 

“See, Morrie, this is how you put a collar on,” she lectured as she glanced up at the baby who was currently climbing up on her long raincoats, gouging small holes in the rubber as it went. She winced at the sight, before returning her gaze to the baby in her arms.  
Hastily she grabbed the tag and checked it, her eyebrows raising slightly. 

“Welcome to the world of the named, Quinn,” she said, placing the baby back down, now genuinely wondering if she should go check on her neighbor more often. Maybe Beth didn’t hate people, but rather didn’t know how to interact with them. This sympathy lasted up until the point that Bobbie remembered the old bat had scammed her out of her parking spot, and she abruptly dismissed all worry of her.

“Alright — we’ve got an Izzy, a Morrie, and a Quinn,” she said as out of curiosity, she checked the name tag on the last collar she held. It was bright pink and had a heart shaped tag that read “Jonna”. She gave a snort, feeling that this was not the tag she would have picked for the last baby if it had been up to her. Still, it was the last one left and she wasn’t about to switch collars around.

“Well, I guess all we need now is a Jonna,” she said, looking about the room. The bitty babe with the scar on its back was the last one on her list. Her eyes darted to her drawers which had been pried open. Bobbie let out a sigh. Reaching into that drawer, she thought as she approached it, would be akin to reaching into a large dark hole. Except, instead of worrying that there might be a snake or insect that could sting inside, she knew for a fact that something aggressive waited within.

“Alright, I know you’re in there,” she warned as she fully pulled open the door, shifting aside clothing as she searched for the last of her prey. It didn’t take her long to find the hidden baby.

Her hand brushed up against something warm and she heard an alarmed and angry hiss from inside of the drawer. Her hand suddenly throbbed in pain and she pulled it out, finding that the to-be-named Jonna had sunk their little teeth into her.

“I’m really hoping none of you are carrying diseases,” she said as the baby released her hands, seeming to realize that it was her. “I’ve gotten three bites off you thus far.”

She reached down to slide the collar onto Jonna, only to have the baby hiss at her again, gnashing its small teeth as it struck out with its claws. 

“Nope, everyone wears a collar,” she insisted, watching the babies snapping teeth carefully. “Otherwise, you’re just too easy to lose.”   
The baby hissed again, before with what seemed like almost a spiteful effort, a stream of liquid slid down its legs, coating the clothes underneath it.

“Noooo…” groaned Bobbie, staring at the soaked clothes as an oddly bleach-like scent hit her nose. 

“You rotten little blighter,” she collared the baby before placing it on the ground, hastily removing the nasty clothes from the drawer.   
“Pee-yew, that stinks,” she said, pinching her nose as she made her way towards her laundry hamper. “How can pee smell that nasty?”  
As she dropped the clothes in, a sudden suspicion occurred to her and she turned back to stare at the babies who were now in a group on the floor, watching her.

“None of you better have taken a shit in my flat, you hear me?” she warned them, eyeing each of the black critters. They tilted their heads at her, chittering softly as she narrowed her eyes. “I’m serious, if I get a whiff of a single…” 

But she was cut off as a stench reached her nostrils.

She choked, and rubbed her face instinctively, looking around for where the smell of fresh feces might be coming from. Her stomach turned as she looked down and noted that her wrap was sagging a bit more than it should. 

“Izzy! Gross!” she said, reaching down and picking up the baby. To her relief, the baby itself was mostly clean, but the smell remained.  
“Well, Laurie won’t be getting this back, that’s a sure thing,” she said as she placed Izzy onto the bed. The creature flopped over and she gave a snort of disbelief at its antics. 

“Oh no, now I know you’re faking it,” she said as she slid her carrier off her neck, making her way directly towards the trash. “Seriously though, that is rank. Is your tummy upset or something?”

Izzy raised its head from the bed and letting out a chitter as she went. 

“I’m coming back,” she said, before firmly shutting the door behind her and walking over to her trash. She’d have to empty it as soon as possible — that truly was some disgusting smelling poop. 

She didn’t fail to notice the jingle of a bell behind the door as she approached it and when she reopened it she was careful not to hit the baby on the other side. The baby with the red collar and busted arm tumbled back, giving out a protesting cry. 

“You’re quite the explorer, Morrie,” Bobbie said as she shut her door, staring at the baby on the ground.

Morrie looked up at her and chittered furiously, before turning away and moving with surprising speed towards her mattress. Izzy gave a wail, waving its little arms at her. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll hold you,” Bobbie said, walking forward and scooping up the small creature. “You better not take a shit on me, though,” she warned as she held the small thing as though it was a newborn child. 

“Not that you have any good places to take shits, I suppose.”

She pondered this thought for a second, before reaching down and pulling out her phone. She quickly scrolled through her contacts till she found who she was looking for. The phone rang as she waited for an answer.

There was a click, and then an annoyed voice filled her ears. “Bobbie, what is it now?” demanded Josh. 

“Hey buddy, could you do me a little favor?” Bobbie asked, wincing as she watched Quinn bite down hard on one of her work boots. Jonna had its match and was wrestling it with vigor as Morrie climbed up one of her coats.

“Is this about the cats?” asked Josh dryly. 

“Yes, yes it is,” confirmed Bobbie, feeling a faint flush on her cheeks. “Could I trouble you to do a spot of shopping for me? I promise I’ll pay you back.” 

Josh spluttered in indignation. 

“Bobbie, are you serious? I’m still at the gym. I’ve got things to do!”

“Come on man, remember when I hid like two kilos of meth in my apartment so you wouldn’t get busted by the cops? You owe me for that at least,” Bobbie said, frowning at the phone. She still wasn’t sure she should have done that — after all, she’d tried to distance herself from drugs since her father. Still, it made for good guilt-trip. 

Josh shushed her loudly. 

“Bobbie, I though we agreed not to talk about that.”

“I did agree,” Bobbie said, before adding. “And look how quiet I’ve been.” There was a moment of silence before Josh spoke again, his voice suddenly nervous. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll do it, but I have to say it must be serious if you’re calling in that favor.” 

Bobbie grinned, feeling a wave of relief hit her.

“Thank you Josh!” she said, a goofy smile on her face.

“Yeah, yeah. Give me a second, I’m going to make a list.” There was rustling before Josh cleared his throat.   
“Okay Bobs, what do you need?” 

Bobbie went through the mental checklist she’d built in her head. “Okay, first I need a couple packets of steak along with a gallon of milk. Full milk please, two-percent isn’t going to cut it.” She began to pace back and forth as she continued to speak.   
“Also, I need a litter box and litter. And don’t get a small litter box, get a big one. Like, a really big one. Make sure to get one of those little poop shovels too, I get the feeling I might need it.”

“Do I want to know what you’ve got at your house?” Josh asked, a note of curiosity entering his voice. “I mean, you have to know you can trust me. I ain’t going to rat you out, promise.” 

Bobbie gave a helpless shrug as Izzy let out a content hiss in her arms. 

“The thing is Josh, I’m not actually quite sure myself.”

“Oh, come on Bobbie, don’t do me like that. How can you not know what you have?”

Bobbie grimaced, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “Look, when it’s all over I’ll tell you over a pint. How’s that sound?”  
“Fine, keep your secrets,” Josh said with a sigh and she heard something rustle in his hands. “I’ll be by your place in about an hour, that good enough?”

“Perfect,” Bobbie assured him before quickly wishing him goodbye and hanging up. She heard a tearing noise and her head snapped around, just in time to see that Morrie had torn through the sleeve of her only long coat. 

“Morrie! Really!?” She sprung from bed, Izzy still firmly snuggled in the crook of her arm as she reached up, catching Morrie. The baby flailed with its good arm, but failed to catch hold of the coat again as Bobbie placed it back down on the floor.

“And you two also need to quit it!” she said, reaching for the shoe that Quinn was playing with. The baby’s eyeless face snapped towards her, and in a flash it was scampering across the ground away from her with her shoe dragging behind it. She considered chasing it, before, with a reluctant sigh she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone again.

“Bobbie, what is it now?” demanded Josh, sounding slightly annoyed. 

“Hey, Josh, could you grab some toys while you’re out and about?” Bobbie requested as she squeezed the phone between her shoulder and head, edging ever closer to Jonna. The baby’s face was pointed towards her and each bite delivered to her boot felt very… pointed. 

“What, like toy mice?” asked Josh as she heard his car growl to life.

“No, too small,” Bobbie said, making a grab for the boot, only to have it pulled out of her reach. “Come on now, those are my work shoes!” she protested at Jonna who bit her sharp little teeth into the laces, severing them. 

“Well, if not that what do you want?” asked Josh.

“Dog toys, but tough ones. Not the sort you get for old Jack,” Bobbie clarified. Old Jack was Josh’s dog who was going on fifteen. He was blind in both eyes from cataracts, and his teeth were so soft that he could only chew on the softest of dog chews. 

“I’m sure your cats will love that,” Josh said snidely. Bobbie nearly groaned out loud as she watched Jonna dig her claws into the sole of the shoe, sharp teeth prying the rubber thing off. 

“Well, that’s a perfectly good pair of work boots down the drain,” she said grumpily as she glared at Jonna. “You are an absolute terror, you know that?”

“Bobbie, are you still talking to me?” Josh said, sounding confused. 

“No, no, one of the miscreants has torn apart my new work boots,” Bobbie said with a sigh.

“Oh shit, didn’t those cost about 150 pounds?” 

Bobbie made a miserable noise in the back of her throat as her mind slapped the sum of money in her face.   
“Would you hurry Josh?” she said in a pleading voice.

“I’ll speed it up,” Josh assured her.

“Thank you, Josh,” Bobbie said, hanging up the phone as her eyes focused on Jonna. Jonna’s small teeth were working at the rubber sole, the destroyed boot sitting beside it.

“Right, no more shoes for you,” she said, placing Izzy onto the ground as she fished the rest of her shoes from the closet. She walked to her door before opening it and tossing them out one by one. 

“There!” she said as she closed the door triumphantly. “Now none of us can reach them.”

She heard the tearing sound of ripping fabric and looked over in time to see that the Morrie had ripped open one of her pillows. Pillow fluff flew everywhere as the baby burrowed inside of it and Bobbie let out a heavy sigh. 

“Right, do what you must, I suppose,” she said as Izzy began to make pitiful whimpering noises on the ground. 

“Izzy, I put you down for ten seconds…” Bobbie began before her protests were cut off as Izzy let out a wail. “Okay, okay! Settle down!” Bobbie said, hastily scooping the baby from the floor.

Bobbie was in a right state by the time the doorbell rung. Her room was in chaos, each baby aside from Izzy their own little whirlwind of destruction. Honestly, Bobbie was fine with most of the damage. Possessions had never been that big of a thing to her… but even still she was beginning to grow concerned at the war zone her room was starting to resemble.

She was grateful their recovery time had been so quick, but she was less grateful that they’d torn up her blankets, tossed her clothes from the drawers and one of them had taken a dump in the corner of her cramped closet. Their small bells jangled about her in a frantic frenzy as the babies bounced across Bobbie’s bed. All that was except for Izzy, who would start to mewl in a pitiful fashion if Bobbie stopped paying attention to the small creature for a single second.

The moment she heard the first note of the doorbell she was up, making her way towards the door quickly. She didn’t even bother to put Izzy down as she stepped out of the door, quickly shutting it behind her and hearing the thuds of small bodies hitting it from the other side. She nearly stumbled over all of her shoes, staggering to right herself as she made her way to her front door.

Josh was standing there, looking more haggard than usual. He stunk of sweat, apparently having failed to wash himself when he left the gym, and his long brown hair was stringy and greasy. The grocery bags that Bobbie had been promised where looped on his arms.  
His bloodshot eyes found her and he gave her a tense smile. Then his eyes drifted downwards and found Izzy. He let out a curse as he stumbled back, staring at the baby in her arms. 

“Bloody hell, Bobbie what in the fuck is that?”

“A cat,” Bobbie said, reaching her hands out and grasping for the bags.

“Bobbie… that is clearly not a cat. That’s a mutated monkey, or maybe a bat…” Josh said trailing off as he stared at Izzy in disbelief.

“Josh, the bags. I’m begging you,” Bobbie said, feeling like a mess. Josh glanced at the bags in his hands, before quickly offering them out to her. 

“I’ll help with the litter,” he offered as Bobbie’s hands filled up, and she simply nodded as she gestured him inside. The maelstrom of bells still jingled from behind her door, and Josh’s head glanced towards the closed door with wide eyes.

“How many you got in there?” he asked as he closed her flat’s door.

“Too many,” Bobbie said as she plopped the bags on the counter. A thump sounded against the bedroom door, making Josh flinch.

“Christ in heaven, Bobbie, what have you let in your flat?” 

Bobbie was digging through the bags, hastily pulling out the toys. 

“Hold Izzy for a second,” Bobbie said, holding the yellow collared baby and dropping it into Josh’s arms. 

“Wait! What!?” Josh looked petrified as he held Izzy at arm’s length.

Bobbie ignored him as she ran to the door, rubber toys in hand. 

“Okay, you monsters, I’ve got you something to play with.” 

Josh had been true to his word. The toys he’d gotten were made of stiff rubber, and Bobbie was sure that they would at least distract the babies to some degree. She tossed them underhand into the room one after the other, watching as the babies gave chase, clearly curious to investigate the new objects they hadn’t yet destroyed.

With a snap, Bobbie shut the door, sagging slightly in relief. 

“There, that should distract them…” she said as she turned to look at Josh. He still held Izzy, face white and hands trembling as the baby began to squirm in discomfort in his grip. 

“Bobbie, please take your monster back!” Josh said frantically, his eyes wide.

“Right, right, sorry Josh,” Bobbie said, hastily running over and scooping the baby from his arms. She cuddled it up to her chest as she shot Josh an apologetic smile. 

“You’re a bloody lunatic Bobbie,” Josh said flatly as he stared at Izzy. “Look, I don’t know where you got these things, but you damn well should put them back.”

Bobbie scoffed. “Oh, don’t be dramatic, Josh.”

“Bobbie, I can literally hear them pulling apart your room. Plus, you look like you jammed your hands into a thorn bush. You’re bleeding bad, mate.”

“There just flesh wounds,” Bobbie assured him, waving away his concerns as she looked about the room, trying to recall where she put her wallet. “Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it,” she said, flashing him a smile. “You got the receipt for all this?”

Josh shook his head, glancing over at the closed door to her bedroom. “You know what, I know you’re good for it, and you seem busy right now. I’m just going to be off.”

Bobbie smiled gratefully at him. “Appreciate it, Josh.”

“Sure, sure,” Josh said, edging towards the door, before pausing at it. “Just… be careful, would you, Bobbie? That thing does not look like good news.”

“Its name’s Izzy,” Bobbie informed him as she patted the baby on the head. “And believe me, this one is the least problematic out of the lot of ‘em.”

Josh gave a low groan in the back of his throat, this information apparently not comforting him even slightly.

“Bobbie, I’m serious, you need to be careful! This is some dangerous shite you’re messed up in. More dangerous than the time I got arrested and had to hide cocaine up my…”

“I’ll be fine Josh,” Bobbie said as she held up a hand. “Also, I’ve heard that story once, I don’t need to hear it again.”

Josh sighed, running a hand through his thick dirty hair as he stared at the baby in Bobbie’s arms.

“Okay, your call.” He walked to the door, opening it up before glancing back at her. “But I’m warning you Bobbie, this will come back and bite you in the arse.”

With that he shut the door, leaving Bobbie to roll her eyes. For someone who normally made it a habit to get arrested at least once a year, she thought his assessment of the situation was rather dire. Shrugging the conversation off though, Bobbie hastily dug into the plastic bags.

The toys were a mercy, the rubber chews stealing the babies attention fully away from the rest of Bobbie’s destroyed room. As they gnawed on them, she’d put out a couple bowls of milk as along with another plate of diced up steak. When she’d set it down in the middle of her room, it had stolen the attention of all the babies.

Even Izzy, who had refused to leave her side all evening had jumped at the chance to stuff its face with the rest of its siblings. It leapt from her arms, happily joining its siblings about the plate of bloody meat.

With an exhausted sigh, she’d filled up the litter box and set it up in a corner. Then, she’d sat down on her bed, watching the babies eat their fill. They were ravenous, tearing through the meat just as quickly as they had done previously.

“Right, now that you’re settled…” 

She turned towards her computer, which had been mercifully been mostly spared during the babies rampage. There were a couple of deep claw marks around the plastic case, but nothing important had been damaged. She settled into the chair in front of it, turning it on. With a click of the mouse, she opened up her internet explorer, surfing through the local news.

She scrolled, looking for any mention of the crash, but finding nothing. She didn’t know how to feel about that. At least what she assumed was the government hadn’t plastered her face all about the net. Part of her had been afraid of seeing some form of wanted poster with her face on it the moment she’d checked local news, but everything was shockingly quiet.

She glanced at the babies who were all clustered around the floor. It seemed that they’d finally filled the voids in their stomachs, and were now messing about. Jonna threw a scrap of meat at Quinn who retaliated by throwing some of the chunks near it.   
“No food fights, kids,” Bobbie said in a distracted voice, her finger tapping anxiously against the mouse.

It was getting late, she reasoned. Sleep would probably be best. Her stomach growled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten all day. She thought about cooking for half a second, before reaching over and taking a swig out of the milk container that still sat nestled on her bed. The lukewarm liquid was not satisfying, but she figured it was better than cooking a full meal. Perhaps she’d also grab an apple.  
She looked towards the babies suspiciously, but they seemed to be tired. The food fight had stopped and now the four of them simply huddled together on the floor. They did look a bit like apes, she supposed, with the way they were sitting. Yet at the same time that just didn’t seem quite right. They chittered, a quiet soliloquy thrumming between them.

“You look distracted enough,” she said, hiding a yawn behind her hand as she walked forward at a slow gate. She opened up her door, stepping into the living room and making her way into the kitchen, retrieving an apple. With tired steps she walked back to the bedroom, peeking her head inside at the babies. 

They were still distracted.

Well that was a relief, she thought as she closed the door. Now, she supposed, was the only time she was going to get to actually grab a shower and maybe brush her teeth.

The light outside was fading, and her self-appointed bedtime was quickly approaching. Her bathroom was trashed, and she grimaced as she walked through it, blocking the clean up process from her mind as she went about her evening routine as normally as she could. Once she was showered and she’d rubbed some toothpaste onto her teeth with her finger. Bobbie was a brave soul, but she wasn’t going to stick a toothbrush in her mouth that had been chewed on by a strange unidentifiable creature.

She also took a moment to wash out her wounds. She scrubbed at them with water and soap, wincing as they smarted at her touch. As the red blood washed down the drain, she lifted her hands up to stare at her injuries.

The cuts and bites were rather deep, she realized as blood pooled out from her skin, the warm water coaxing it out. She knelt down, digging beneath the sink until she found a couple of band aids. She wrapped them about her hands in a half hazard fashion, before deciding it was good enough. She’d washed the wounds, and that was what mattered.

With this, she returned to her bedroom. After making sure the door was tightly closed, she slumped down in her mangled bed. As she got comfortable, she noticed something odd. The babies were still on the floor, but neither where they eating or chittering in those soft voices of theirs.

They had formed a tight circle on the floor and they somehow seemed smaller than before. Their small heads darted back and forth, as though they were searching for something and the noises they were making were… different than the ones that had come before them. 

It was the same cry over and over, keening and sharp from their mouths. Bobbie tilted her head to the side as she crawled to the edge of her bed, looking at them. It was as though they were crying for something specific. But for what? Their mother perhaps? Did they have a mother? A father?

Quickly, Bobbie plugged in her phone to her wall charger before carefully approaching the babies. They did not acknowledge her approach, not even Izzy. All of them seemed too keen on calling out to something… something who wasn’t answering. 

“Who are you looking for?” Bobbie asked them as she sat herself down. One by one their small faces turned to her, the soft keening still emitting from their mouths. Maybe she was projecting, but Bobbie thought she sensed pleading behind those blank faces.  
“Hey, look, I don’t know what’s going on but I’m going to take care of you okay?” she promised. “Even if you tear up my apartment and bite me, I’m still going to make sure you’re okay at the end of the day. Understand?”

Small heads stared at her, the sad call still emitting out from their mouths. Bobbie sighed as she scooted closer, leaning down so her head was closer to the babies.

“Look, I don’t know where you came from. Hell, I don’t know if you’re even supposed to exist, but I’m not going to just ditch you.” The babies stared, before with a soft chirp, Izzy broke from the group. It scampered over to Bobbie, before crawling up into her lap. One by one, the other babies followed it, curling up in her lap.

With a sigh, she gathered them up in her arms. They did not resist her as she brought them to the partially destroyed bed, setting them down on it. 

“Let’s all get some rest, and tomorrow I can figure out what in the hell we’re going to do. Seem fair?” she asked as she flicked on her bedside light, before waking over and flipping off the room lights. The weak glow illuminated the babies who still sat and watched her. She sat down on the edge of the bed, sliding beneath the covers with a sigh.

The mattress shifted and in a second, she was surrounded by babies. Izzy settled right on her chest while Quinn and Jonna curled together beside her. Morrie crawled up on her belly, leaving her fully covered with babies. 

“Good thing I don’t move when I sleep,” Bobbie commented with a shake of her head. “‘Cause I’d be worried I’d squish you.”

With that, she reached out and flicked off her lights, casting the room in shadows and darkness. Despite the worry that hung heavy on her mind, Bobbie was out in a matter of seconds, her mind drifting off into the dark. Everything she had to do had to be done in the morning, and it wasn’t morning yet.


	4. Exit stage left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie awakens to some alarming news and is forced to make a choice under pressure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, I'm back on my bullshit again. Posting more baby nonsense. I know I don't keep this story regularly updating, but I am working on it. It's just a bit... long. Regardless, here's another monster of a chapter for a fic that probably really doesn't need to exist :)

She was pumping iron at the gym. The weights clanked as she lifted them up and down, sweat pouring down her face from the excretion. She was excited beyond words. She had already beat her own personal record as she lifted up one thousand one hundred pounds. Her muscles were on fire and she felt her heart beating rapidly.

At the rate she was going, she’d be able to beat all sorts of records. Hell, with how she was feeling, she might be able to break the world record! She lowered the bar down to her chest, and she suddenly felt a heavy pressure atop of it. She looked up and let out a gasp. Above her, stabilizing on the metal rod was one of the small black babies.

She wasn’t sure which one it was, it’s neck lacking a collar. “How’d you get here?” She demanded, trying to push the bar up but finding it was stuck in place. It gave a cheep, and she felt the bar press down harder as another baby jumped atop of it. She strained to push it off, but found that she was trapped.

From around her there was a sudden flurry of noise and babies began to surround her. There were far more than four. She counted at least twenty of all of them began to shuffling onto the bar, weighing it down and more and more. Bobbie felt it press down, hearing her ribs cracking as it did. She strained to breathe as the first baby opened its mouth. Instead of a cheep or other recognizable noise, a loud obnoxious ring began to emit.

“W… what?” She muttered as she felt small bodies around her begin to move, loud protesting noises filling up the air. She glanced down and let out a laugh, the ringing dying away as she saw the small babies curled up by her.

“It was all a dream…” She said blearily, before letting out a laugh and falling back down into the pillow. The small babies about her settled back down as she rested her tired head, chuckling at herself. Then her eyes were once more jerked open as the ringing began again.

She rolled over, careful not to squish the two lumps curled up beside her as she reached for the table beside her bed. Her tired hand found her phone whose screen was lit up and she brought it up to her face. All at once, she was far more awake than before as she hastily sat up in bed. “Oh dear.” She said quietly as her bosses number flashed on the screen.

It was still dark outside her flat she realized as she hit answer on her phone. She didn’t even have a moment to brace herself as a furious voice filled up her senses.

“Bobbie what the hell did you do to my van?!”

Bobbie heard soft hissing from by her side and turned to see that babies looked perturbed. Jonna’s small teeth were bared and Morrie along with Quinn were shaking their heads in a furious fashion, as though trying to make the noise stop.

“Hold onto that thought,” Bobbie said as she quickly got out of bed, letting the babies settle back down. Izzy, who had been snoozing on a pillow watched her go, but then its little head flopped back down. Clearly all of her small houseguests were still quite tired and she didn’t want to wake them up any more than she had.

Slipping out of her bedroom she allowed the door to close behind her with a snap, before leaning against it and holding the phone back to her ear. “Right, the van. Sorry about that.”

Her boss was clearly not placated. “Bobbie, I get in here at five AM, ready to start up my day and do you want to know what I find?”

Bobbie rubbed the back of her head. “Er… a busted van?”

“Yes, and what else do I find?”

“A… busted van?” Bobbie said, her mind blanking. She had no idea what her boss was trying to get at.

“Our phone line is chalk full of voicemails from some sort of government agency. Some nosey broad named Claudia seems damn determined to get ahold of you.”

Claudia, Bobbie didn’t know a Claudia.

“Never heard of her.” Bobbie said honestly.

“Interesting, because she knows who you are,” Bobbie’s boss said through slightly gritted teeth. “According to Miss Claudia, there’s a possibility when you _crashed the company car_ , you took something you weren’t supposed to. Government agents want to get ahold of you Bobbie. _Government agents Bobbie!_ ”

Her boss let out a groan and she could hear him pacing on the other side of the phone. “You and I both know that the last thing I need crawling about the shop is the government!”

Bobbie was only half paying attention, her ears peeled, making sure that the babies didn’t do anything to outlandish in the room behind her. “Well, crashed is a bit of an overstatement. Still drives don’t it?”

“Bobbie I’m taking it out of your paycheck, I hope you know that.”

“Right, fine,” Bobbie said, distracted as her hand tapped anxiously on the door behind her. “Hey, boss, you didn’t happen to tell that government lady anything did you?”

“Bobbie, have a little more faith. I didn’t give her crap,” her boss said with a scoff. “But I’d be on my toes.”

He paused, before saying in a suddenly suspicious voice. “Bobbie, you didn’t take anything did you?”

“No, what! Me, take a box on accident that I wasn’t supposed to… what are the odds?” Bobbie said, her attention suddenly fully on the conversation as she gave an anxious laugh.

Her boss gave a low moan. “Bobbie what did you steal? No… on second thoughts, don’t tell me. Just, don’t get arrested. I don’t have anyone to cover your shift.”

“I’ll do my best.” Bobbie said, already suspecting she was going to be missing a couple of shifts regardless of what she wanted. “But, um… if the government wants to have a word with me it might be a keen idea to make myself scarce if you know what I mean.”

There was a long paused, before her boss relented in a grumpy voice. “Fine, you may take your vacation days. Just don’t get arrested Bobbie. I don’t want to hire another driver in this economy!”

“So we’re all good then?” Bobbie asked, feeling a bit jittery as the severity of the situation began to settle on her.

“Don’t get arrested Bobbie.”

The phone clicked and she was left in silence. Bobbie took in a deep sigh, heart pounding slightly as she looked towards the door behind her. Well this was a real pickle wasn’t it? Honestly, yesterday everything had seemed so easy. Just keep the babies from tearing up her flat… but now…

Her eyes drifted to her side closet, the one that was right by the door. She tilted her head towards it, thinking hard for a second. Then her back left the door and she wandered over to it, carefully pulling it open. She stepped back as a folding chair fell out of it, flopping at her feet. She kept her camping stuff in here, not that she’d been camping in a very long time.

Last time she and Laurie had been camping it had been two years back, back before Laurie had gotten her new job. They’d camped out in the Forest of Dean, and the memories tugged at Bobbie as she pulled out the two person tent. It was contained in a bright yellow bag, the string long lost and the top of it hanging open. She pulled it out, placing it on the floor as she reached in to retrieve the rest of her stuff.

Her old green camping backpack, her sleeping bag, her flashlight and matches and much more. She started to pack it all away, thinking hard as she did. She’d need some way to contain the babies, a kennel perhaps? She doubted a normal kennel would hold them, but then again she was just looking for a good way to carry them.

Her camping backpack was stuffed to the brim by the time she was done, though there was still a bit of room left for food. She leaned the backpack against the wall as she turned to consider her cupboards. As she was staring at them, her phone rung once more. She pulled it out, deciding as she did that if it was her mother she was simply going to hang up and deal with the fallout later.

However, she was met with a surprise as she looked at her screen. An unknown number was calling her. Not just an unknown number either, but a private number. She stared at it for a half a second, deciding whether or not she should answer. Finally, she made her choice and held the phone up to her ear. Hopefully it was just a spam caller she thought as the line connected.

“Hello, who is this?” Bobbie asked politely.

“Is this Bobbie Slater?” The voice was that of a woman, and it was crisp and clear, carrying a sharp note of authority to it. Bobbie moved towards her cupboards, pulling out canned goods as she did. She had some granola bars that had been tucked away in her closet for years, and she sure hoped they hadn’t expired.

“Whose asking?” Bobbie pressed, not keen on admitting to who she was until she had more details.

“My name is Claudia Brown, I’m with the home office. We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday.” She sounded slightly relieved, as though a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest.

Bobbie thought for a second, before deciding that her best option was to play dumb. She found that she was usually quite good at this. “Ah, well you should have probably called the location number then mam. I don’t own the company and whatever you need you need to arrange it with my boss.”

“I, what? No, no we don’t need delivery,” the woman sounded beyond confused by her response. Good, that was what Bobbie had been going for.

“Pick up works the same way mam. Look, I’m a bit busy at the moment and I really can’t help.” Bobbie said, hastily hanging up the call. For a second, she thought her not so clever ploy had worked, when the phone began to once more buzz in her hand.

With a groan, she answered it, holding it up to her ear. “Hello, who is this?” She said, her voice still polite.

“It’s still Claudia.” The woman sounded frustrated now as she continued. “Listen, this has nothing to do with your employer.”

“Oh, well then in that case I’m not interested in buying anything…” Bobbie began, but she was cut off. It seemed Claudia was not feeling particularly patient.

“Bobbie, you are the driver that got caught up in the multi car pileup on the street yesterday correct?” She said, now sounding quite a bit more stressed then before.

Bobbie weighted her options as she stared between a can of corn and a can of beans.

“I mean, maybe. It was a long day yesterday, lot happened,” Bobbie said evasively as she decided she’d just take them both.

“You… you don’t remember if you were involved in a car crash. Are you being serious right now?” Claudia tone was steadily growing less friendly.

“Oh, you mean the car crash with the black cars, right right,” Bobbie said as she continued to stall. There was a silence for a second.

“Bobbie, what did you do with the box?” Claudia snapped.

Bobbie nearly dropped the cans. How had this woman caught on to her so quickly? And here she thought she had been decently evasive.

“What box?” She asked in a distinctly higher pitched voice that she was comfortable with. “I haven’t seen any wooden boxes.”

“Look,” The woman’s voice now had a soothing note to it, though Bobbie wasn’t sure if it was meant for her or was the woman attempting to calm herself down. “It’s okay, no one is mad at you. You probably took it on accident. Just, that box had some very dangerous… items in it. Government property and we need to know what happened to it.”

“I mean, they don’t seem that dangerous. They’ve bit me a couple of times, but I think they were just spooked,” Bobbie said, feeling a bit miffed that her babies were being described as dangerous ‘items’.

“Wait, you let them out?! Did you bring them home!?” The woman sounded extremely flustered and Bobbie realized she may have made a bit of a mistake.

“Well it was hardly a matter of letting them out, the top of the box was torn. Anyway, they were hurt and very upset and you know I’m not convinced you were taking the best care of them, no offense,” Bobbie said, meaning quite a significant amount of offense.

Claudia made a small noise on the other end of the phone that sounded like a mix of a moan and a choke. “I… hold please.”

Bobbie pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at it. “Okay I’ll hold.” She muttered quietly as she snapped her bag shut and stepped back with a sigh. She was almost done, but she knew that she needed at least a couple more things before she took off. She needed jerky for the babies to eat as well as powdered milk. They’d drunk a decent amount of the milk she’d set out the previous night, and she was going to be damned sure that they would have the most balanced diet she could provide.

Did they need special milk thought she wondered? Her mind wandered once more to her neighbor. She knew Beth would still be in and she wondered if she had any advice. Bobbie did not like the woman, in fact she might have liked her even less now that the old bat had stolen her parking spot.

Still her depth of knowledge in caring for animals was rapidly becoming more and more valuable. As Bobbie considered this, she heard the line click and another voice suddenly sounded in her ear.

“Er… hello Bobbie was it?” The male voice sounded familiar and her mind snapped back to the blond-haired man who looked like he was in charge.

“Yep, that’s me. Who is this?” Bobbie said as she began to try and plan out what she was going to say to her next-door neighbor. Maybe her luck would hold and Beth would be sympathetic to her cause. She had seemed very perturbed about the idea of animal testing, maybe Bobbie could milk that excuse a bit more.

“Right, my name is Professor Nick Cutter. I was one of the people at the crash, so you remember?”

Bobbie gave an affirming grunt as she tiptoed over to her room and peered inside. She counted the babies on the bad. One, two, three and… where was Izzy? She stepped inside as the self-proclaimed professor continued.

“Right, Bobbie there’s something you need to understand,” he said, his voice full of tension. “Those things may look small and weak right now, but you absolutely cannot let them out of your sight. They’re a highly adaptable predator. If they got loose they’d wreak havoc on the eco system, do you understand me?” Bobbie heard a faint cry and looked down to see Izzy at her feet.

The baby was sitting on its butt, small clawed hands in the air like a child asking to be picked up. “You’re joking right?” She said as she scooped the baby up, allowing it to huddle in her arms. She walked forward, nearly tripping over her shoes that were still scattered all about the floor. If she wasn’t about to leave, she’d have considered picking them up.

“I am deadly serious Bobbie.” Nick said, his voice carrying an edge to it. “If those things get lose you have no idea what the consequences will be.” Bobbie stared at Izzy, before looking back to the phone in disbelief. She was beginning to doubt this professor’s credentials.

“I mean, honestly I don’t think they’d last real long professor,” Bobbie said, as she peeked into the room, making sure that the other babies were still behaving. Jonna was gnawing on one of the rubber chews, but the other two seemed to still be sleepy. “I mean, one of them tried to eat a candle earlier. I think you might be banking a bit too hard on their intelligence…”

“Those things are deadly killing machines! You have no idea what you’re risking if you don’t give them back to us!” Nick practically yelled and Bobbie flinched slightly.

“Okay, you’re coming off a bit strong there pal,” Bobbie said, holding the phone away from her ear. “Let’s just agree to disagree and leave at that.”

“Are you serious?” Nick sounded livid and Bobbie grimaced. She really didn’t like being yelled at, least of all by government agents. “You disagree with me? You honestly think you know better?”

“I mean, I’ll level with you, I didn’t even graduate high school so smarts aren’t my thing. Still, I think you’re overreacting just a touch,” She could hear angry breathing on the other side and spoke quickly. “Look, you’re being a bit too intense for me. How about you call me back once you calm down?”

“BOBBIE LISTEN TO ME...”

_Click_

Bobbie hastily hung up the phone. Izzy had turned its little head about and was staring at the device with what would have probably been wide eyes if it had eyes. “I know right,” Bobbie said with a nod of her head as her phone started vibrating again. She hastily switched it to silent and slid it into her pocket. “Well, I guess we’re going to have to be quick about this aren’t we? Something tells me he’s not the type to calm down,” Izzy cheeped as Bobbie quickly made her way towards her front door.

Bobbie nervously knocked on Beth’s door, already preparing for a less that pleasant greeting. Sure, Beth had been friendly enough when she’d spoken with her the previous evening, but now it was early in the morning. If Bobbie knew anything about Beth, it was that she liked her mornings to be quiet.

It took a good few knocks, but finally the door swung open and a sleepy looking Beth stood there. Her fists were balled and her hair was tucked in a nightcap. “Hi Beth.” Bobbie said nervously as the woman’s bleary eyes focused sharply on her. She scowled, but the expression lightened when she saw Izzy.

“Is everything okay Bobbie?” She asked, her eyes fixing on the baby in Bobbies arms. Well… it seemed her kind spirit had lasted her through the night. That was a relief Bobbie thought as she felt some of her stress alleviate.

“Do you have a kennel?” Bobbie said, deciding she may as well get to the point. Beth looked at her, a slightly surprised expression on her face.

“Sorry, just, there’s been a bit of a… development,” Bobbie said, trying to figure out how much she wanted to admit to her grouchy neighbor. The woman folded her arms, suddenly looking wide awake. “What sort of a development?” She asked and Bobbie internally cringed as she tried to think up a good lie.

“A development were the people who originally had these babies want them back.”

Beth’s eyes widened, before narrowing into slits and it was as though the atmosphere in the hallway changed. Her elderly neighbor had taken on the aura of an enraged berserker, her eyes glowing with a fire that Bobbie had never seen. “I see.” She said, stepping out of her flat and coming to stand in front of Bobbie. “Other than the kennel is there anything else you need?”

Bobbie stared at her, feeling slightly alarmed by the change. “Oh, well… I mean probably.” She thought for a second, before asking in a slightly cautious voice. “Do you think powdered milk is fine to feed them? I’m going to be gone for a little while and won’t be near stores, so I was hoping to get some sort of substitute.”

“No, and you probably shouldn’t be giving them normal milk either. I’ve got something you can use, but Bobbie…” She lowered her voice as she stepped forward, still looking as though she was ready to throw down. “Do you know where you’re taking them to hide them? I have connections.” Bobbie stared at her elderly neighbor, trying to make sense of what the woman was telling her.

“I… I think I’ve got it handled.” Bobbie said, not sure what sort of connections Beth might have. Beth nodded her head, but she still seemed, odd. Her eyes found Izzy and there was a deep-seated sadness in them as she reached out, carefully petting the baby’s head. “Well, I guess I’ll have to trust your judgement. You better believe me though Bobbie, the government is big and has many arms. They will find you if you’re not careful.”

“I didn’t know you had such issues with the government,” Bobbie said, feeling as though she was meeting the real Beth for the first time.

Beth eyed her, before everting her gaze and saying simply. “We have a history.” She patted Izzy, before stepping back to her flat and pushing open the door. “Give me a second,” She said, before disappearing into the room beyond.

“I swear, that woman gets weirder every time I talk to her,” Bobbie muttered to Izzy, staring at the door in a confused silence. Izzy bit on its small claws, before looking up at her and giving a tiny cheep of a cry. “You said it buddy,” Bobbie said as the door once more swung open.

Beth reappeared with a rather large carrier that looked big enough to hold all four babies without a problem. On top of it was a large ziplock bag of power, a small blue scoop inside of it.

“This is kitten milk replacement,” Beth said as she handed the items to Bobbie. “Follow the directions that I’ve left inside the bag and you should be just fine.”

Bobbie accepted the items, still feeling a bit gob smacked by the exchange. “Geez, thank you Beth. I really appreciate it.”

Beth nodded her head stiffly, before glancing at the baby, her eyes still full of worry. “You know, back when I was younger I got out a bit more than I do now.” She looked up to Bobbie, a distant look in her eye. “I was in a rather specific group of people back then…” She trailed off, before clearing her throat and saying with a laugh. “I have to admit though, I’d have never thought someone like you would put yourself out on the line for… well… that.” She gestured towards Izzy.

Well that was one of the most backhanded compliment Bobbie had ever received. She felt her head tilt to the side, eyebrows raising slightly. “Er, what?”

Beth shrugged her shoulders, slight smile still on her face as she turned back towards her flat before looking back. “What made you decide to do it anyways? Take them in?”

Bobbie was lost for words for a second, feeling as though her and Beth were having two completely different conversations. “Well, I mean I guess they just kind of fell into my lap,” she said gesturing at the baby in her arms. “And I just, decided to go with it?”

Beth gave her a half smile. “Responsibility is like that sometimes I suppose. Good luck Bobbie.”

She closed the door, leaving Bobbie feeling as though she’d been hit with a dump truck. “I’m beginning to wonder if Beth has a larger criminal record than me,” Bobbie mumbled to Izzy as she made her way over to her door. “Glad to have her on our side I guess?”

Once they were inside, Bobbie put Izzy down, despite its protests. “I need my hands free to pack,” She insisted as she set Izzy in the room with her now awake siblings. All of them it seemed had decided to get their morning chewing in and, to her relief, they’d decided to use the litter box instead of her floor. Of course, that didn’t help the smell but at least it was safely contained.

“Right,” She said as she closed the door and made her way to her backpack. She packed the ziplock into the top, zipping it away before turning towards the kennel. It was a plastic, its bright red shell reflecting in the lights. It would be a snug fit, that was for sure, but Bobbie knew there’d be enough room for all the babies. Now, getting them inside would be another story all together.

She cracked her knuckles, preparing to go to war as she glanced at the door. “Let’s do this.” She said, clapping her hands as she hyped herself up. “I’m ready to get bit again. She grabbed the kennel before she quickly made her way into the bedroom.

As soon as she was inside, she knew her work was cut out for her. Morrie had already climbed up her wall and was dangling off the framed photo of her family. A sliver of a crack ran through the glass were Morrie had evidently put its claw through the pane.

Quinn it seemed had burrowed into the torn-up pillow and was playing some sort of game with its sibling Jonna. Quinn would emerge from the pillow, slashing at Jonna as it approached, trying to wrestle its sibling out.

Izzy was already attached once more to her ankle and she let out a sigh, running her hands through her hair. “Right…” She said as she set the kennel on the bed, reaching down to remove Izzy from her ankle and placing it on the bed. The baby protested but she shushed it. “I have to wrangle your siblings Izzy,” She said, before looking about the room and speaking loudly.

“Now, I know you won’t like this,” She said as she folded her muscled arms. “But it’s for your own good.” None of the babies even bothered to look at her, Morrie slipping slightly on the frame, bad arm flailing about its head.

Bobbie caught it easily, lifting Morrie down as it gave a wail of protest. “No, no more ruining family photo’s for you,” She said as she turned away and walked to the kennel. She slid the baby inside and closed the door in its face before it had a chance to react. Morrie’s small claws stuck through the slats in the top as the baby proceed to throw a tantrum.

Though it was difficult to ignore it, Bobbie managed to focus on Quinn and Jonna who had stopped their game to stare at Bobbie. Bobbie flexed her fingers, deciding she wasn’t actually quite ready to get bit as she set her sights on Quinn. However, as she reached for the baby in the pillow Jonna lunged at her. It’s sharp teeth sunk into her hand, breaking skin with ease.

“Okay then, you can go in the kennel next,” Bobbie said, catching the baby easily as it gnawed on her head, leaving bloody marks where it bit. Quinn squeaked and tumbled out of the pillow and to Bobbie’s surprise it ran towards her and the snarling Jonna.

She glanced at the kennel were the trapped Morrie still throwing a tantrum, before she realized what was going on. “Oh… Oh! No no, this is a good kennel. Not like the box you were being kept in before,” She said, realizing that she hadn’t considered the bad associations the babies might have with small enclosed areas.

With a sigh, she put Jonna down allowing it to dart back over to Quinn. She reached down and undid the kennel, staring in at Morrie who had magically stopped wailing the moment the door was opened. Now it just sat there, looking about its enclosure with interest.

Well, she did have some leftover steak in the fridge, and they hadn’t had breakfast yet. Maybe it would be a better idea to try and entice them rather than to force them.

It was shocking how well her plan worked. The second she placed steak into the carrier, the babies flocked inside. Even Izzy had followed in, seemingly eager to get a bite to eat and Bobbie had closed the kennel, breathing out a sigh of relief as she did so. That took care of that problem then she thought.

As she brushed off her hands, feeling more and more confident with each passing second she unconsciously reached in to grab her phone. She stared in disbelief as she realized the damn phone was still ringing. Had Nick really been calling her nonstop since she put this blasted thing in her pocket?

“Geez, okay, okay,” She said to herself as she hit the answer button and held it close her ear.

“Look, are you calm now?” She asked, not keen on getting yelled at again. “Because if you’re not I’m not going to have a conversation with you.”

“Bobbie, this is Claudia.” The woman’s voice brought her some relief. At least she seemed to be a bit more levelheaded than the fiery professor.

“Well, nice to hear from you again Claudia,” Bobbie said, fully meaning this statement. “Can you please not put your coworker back on. He seems a little bit worked up.”

As she said this, Bobbie made her way to the bathroom. She was keen on getting ready for the day best she could before she left.

“He’s a very passionate man,” Claudia agreed and Bobbie could have sworn she heard a note of affection in the woman’s voice. “But listen, Bobbie, he’s also a smart man.”

Bobbie, who was rubbing toothpaste onto her teeth with her finger spat into the sink before saying in a doubtful voice. “Sure.”

“He’s a scientist Bobbie, he knows what he’s talking about,” Claudia insisted. “You know nothing about this situation.”

Bobbie rubbed deodorant onto her pits as she grimaced slightly. “I know you had a box of small babies in your car and they were in a bad way.”

“Bobbie, we just want to help you. You’re in danger, do you understand that?”

Bobbie switched the phone to the other hand as she walked towards the kitchen, determined to get a snack before she left. It was likely not a good idea to leave with a rumbling stomach.

“I mean, and don’t take this the wrong way,” Bobbie said as she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on her counter and bit into it. “I know I’m in danger, but I don’t think that’s because of these babies.” There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Claudia no longer sounded so calm when she answered. “Bobbie, we are your friends! Those things have already killed people!

” Bobbie took another bite, before asking in a skeptical voice. “The babies I have, have killed people? How exactly did they do that?”

“Obviously not them, their parent.”

Bobbie swallowed her apple, straightening up slightly. Now that was an interesting development. “So, where is their parent now?”

“It’s already been dealt with.”

Bobbie felt her stomach twist as she looked back towards her closed bedroom door. “Shite,” she whispered. “Sorry you four.” That was not the news she’d been hoping to hear at all and she was so distracted by it she almost didn’t realize that Claudia was still talking.

“Bobbie, this is more serious than you could ever know…” Bobbie cut off Claudia, suddenly feeling a lot less charitable. Heat had risen into her face, her pulse quickening with anger.

“Look, I’m not exactly keen on getting dragged down to a police station. No doubt you already know my record.”

“Then we won’t do that,” Claudia said quickly. “Look, Bobbie we really just need those creatures back. We’ll let you go, no charges.”

“What are you planning to do with them if I give them back?” Bobbie demanded flatly as she shouldered her backpack, before walking over to the kennel. There was silence on the phone, and Bobbie spoke again. “No, really, what are you planning on doing with them Claudia Brown?”

“That is government business,” the woman said finally, and Bobbie gave an indignant snort.

“Well, I’m not going to give them to you because you know what I think? I think you’ve got it out for them. I think you want them dead.” She was flushed and she was mad. Madder than she’d been in a long time.

If she was being honest, it wasn’t a feeling that was spawning completely out of altruism. Her thoughts were still on the parent that these people had apparently done away with.

If the parent had still been alive, Bobbie could have given these babies back and been done with all of this. Now though, there didn’t seem to be any way out of her current situation other than returning them to a sketchy government organization, something she refused to do. She had been stranded with responsibility and this thought was enough to get her blood boiling.

Claudia spoke again, her words precise. “Bobbie, everything our team does is for the good of us all, you have to believe me.”

Bobbie scowled as she set the kennel down beside her, retrieving the key to lock her flat. “I don’t,” She said simply, before hanging up and grumpily stuffing her phone into her pocket.

“It’S fOr ThE gOoD Of uS AlL.” She snapped to herself. “Right, I bet!”

She paused then, before speculatively looking at the kennel. The babies had gathered at the front of it, though they didn’t see to perturbed by what was happening. She stared down at their small dark forms, before shrugging.

“To be fair, if you grow up to be even three times the size that you are now I can imagine you’d be quite dangerous, but you can’t help that can you?” Izzy gave a protesting cheep from inside of the kennel as Bobbie bent down to pick it up. “Besides, I’ve already come this far. I would be a shame if I didn’t see this through.” Not that she was sure what seeing this through would mean in the long run.

The sun had come up slightly as she stepped out of the building and made it to her car. She opened up the doors, carefully stowing the now vocal kennel inside of it before putting her backpack down on the floor as well. The first rays from the sun bounced off her hair and she gave a yawn as she stretched her arms. This was not how she wanted to spend her vacation she though as she circled her car wearily.

As she slid into the driver’s seat, she heard the squeal of tires entering into the parking lot. She turned her head, catching sight of two black cars speeding into her sleepy little car park. They came to a stop, not bothering to park as people hopped out of them. Bobbie did not recognize any of them, but they were dressed in those black uniforms that she’d seen the other’s wearing the previous day.

Radio’s crackled and orders were barked as they muscled their way into her complex. Bobbie felt a slight tinge of concern as she watched them. “Looks like we got out just in time,” she said as she started up her car, the engine thrumming to life. She didn’t bother trying to drive out of the parking lot correctly, instead simply heading forward and over the concrete curve. Her car bumped down the slight incline, flattening the grass as she came to the road. Swiftly, she through on her turn signal, and merged out into the light traffic of the morning, driving along the road and a quick pace.

“Right, so first things first, we’ve got to fill up my car tank because it’s almost empty and then I need to go and grab you something dried to eat. I can probably find some jerky,” She looked back at the kennel in the review mirror, watching as small hands waved viciously from the inside, the wails slowly becoming louder and louder. “I get it, you don’t like being trapped in there, but I don’t like the idea of you loose in my car. You understand?”

The only answer she received was more wails, which was expected but still frustrating. The nearest gas station was only a little ways down the road, and she reached it pretty quickly. She flipped on her blinker and pulled into it, bringing her car up to the pump. “I’ll just pay inside,” She said to herself as eager to get away from the wailing. Quickly she stepped out of her car and walked towards the small convince store.

She found the jerky quickly, slapping several bags of it up on the counter in front of the bored looking clerk. “Can I get this and thirty pounds on gas pump four please?” she said smiling. “Sure thing.” The clerk said, typing into the register in front of him. “Will that be all for you today?” Bobbie nodded her head, before pausing. “Don’t suppose you have any plastic dishware do you?” The clerk gestured towards the back, and Bobbie hurried over towards it.

Plastic silverware along with a nice-looking travel mug were in her possession when she left the store, quickly walking to her car. She opened up the back, placing her groceries down into it before hearing a tell-tale jingle right out of her line of sight. She turned in time to see Jonna and Morrie looking over at her, heads cocked to the side. “Don’t tell me you broke it already!” Bobby said, staring at the babies in disbelief. As though to answer her question, Quinn’s and Izzy’s heads popped up from behind the seat, Izzy letting out a small cry upon seeing her.

“Look, I have jerky.” Bobbie tore the bag open with her teeth before carefully offering out the slabs of dried meat to the occupants in her car. Eagerly the babies lunged forward, each of them grabbing some of it, small teeth shredding the tough meat with ease. “Right, please stay distracted,” Bobbie said, closing the back of the car as she quickly went about fueling her car.

Once she was done she hastily put the pump back in place before hopping into the car and merging back out onto the road. She didn’t bother trying to fight the babies back into their kennel. Firstly, because she suspected they’d broken the door beyond repair and secondly because she was really beginning to get the feeling that sooner or later Professor Cutter and his compatriots were going to pick up her trail.

In the review mirror she watched as the babies crawled about their surroundings, clearly curious in what was happening. Unlike the previous day, they seemed a bit more settled in the car. Maybe it was simply because they were no longer traumatized from being locked in a box, or perhaps the fact that they knew Bobbie a bit more at this point was helping them relax. Either way, Bobbie was grateful they weren’t causing as much trouble as they had previously.

As she drove down the road her mind drifted. She really hadn’t thought to far ahead had she? Sure, she was pretty ready to camp, but part of her wondered if she really should have thought through her options more before just jumping in the car. Maybe she should have asked Beth for help after all. Ah well she thought with a shrug of her shoulders, she’d always been more of a doer than a thinker.

She looked down towards her phone, realizing that there was a number on screen. This time though, it wasn’t the number she was expecting. Her mouth went a bit dry as Laurie’s name flashed across the screen and she hastily reached down, slapping the accept button.

“Bobbie, you there?” The woman’s voice was worried, cutting her off before she could say anything.

“Yep, I’m here Laurie.”

There was silence in the car for a second as Bobbie struggled to think of what to say next. “This is, a surprise…” She said finally, feeling a flush on her cheeks. “I, er, I thought you were a bit peeved with me to be honest.”

“I am,” Laurie’s voice was the one she’d use whenever Bobbie asked her an exceptionally dumb question. “But… Bobbie I don’t know what you’ve done but you really should turn yourself in.”

“I… what?” Bobbie stared at the phone, feeling more than a little bit gob smacked. “Hold up, Laurie what are you taking about.”

“Bobbie, you remember my job right?”

“The one that ended our relationship,” Bobbie nodded her head. “Yes, I remember that job.”

“It wasn’t the only thing Bobbie,” Laurie said in a testy voice.

“Right, right, but it was a contributing factor.” Bobbie pointed out and Laurie gave a huffy sigh, the one she always gave when Bobbie made what she called an ‘inconsequential and unhelpful point’.

“Bobbie, I am not here to debate about our relationship okay? Look, I know you’ve stolen something from my unit and you need to give it back. This is me, calling as your friend and telling you to give what you took back. You trust me right?”

Bobbie felt her willpower fade for a second. She did trust her. Laurie really had been the brains of the operation when they’d been together. But… she glanced back in the mirrors at the small black shapes who tumbled about her car. She bit her lip, fingers tapping on her steering wheel. “Well, we aren’t exactly dating anymore so if I don’t do what you say it’s not like there’s going to be consequences,” she joked lightly.

“Damn it Bobbie.” Laurie sounded genuinely distressed and Bobbie flinched. “I don’t want you going back to slammer, think of your record! Do you really want to start all over again?”

“Well, I’m not stopping the car,” Bobbie said simply. Laurie was quiet for a couple of seconds, before she took in a sharp breath of air.

“You realize part of the reason we broke up is because you’re stubborn as a mule right?” She snapped, sounding peeved.

“I’m aware.”

There was a moment of silence before she spoke again.

“Throw away your phone Bobbie, they can track you through it.”

Bobbie stared at the phone in her hand, disbelief filling her. “Are… are you serious?”

“Deadly, throw it away otherwise they’ll be able to find you as long as you’re in service.” Bobbie was quiet for a second, her mind flooding with a plethora of emotions. Alarm, gratitude and a hint of sadness.

“Thank you Laurie.” She finally said, and she heard her ex give a wistful sigh.

“Of course Bobbie.” She paused, before adding. “Take care of yourself okay? Don’t do anything to stupid.”

“Oh you know me,” Bobbie said weakly.

“I know, that’s why I’m worried,” Laurie retorted, her voice back to its snippy tone. “Now get rid of your phone.”

There was a click and the call was ended. Bobbie rolled down her window, before quickly throwing out her phone. She flinched as she heard it crunch under someone’s tires, but ignored it as she felt a tug of sadness. A chirp directed her attention to the seat beside her and she turned to see a that Morrie had navigated its way to the front seat with Izzy close behind.

“We’ve all got to have one that gets away right?” She said, eyes on the road. “For the best though, she deserved better.” Izzy made a slight cooing noise and Bobbie’s eyes darted to it, flashing it a smile.

“You better believe she’s happy with her life choices right now. If she were here right now, oh boy.” Bobbie shook her head laughing as she stared in front of her. “We’d have for sure had some sort of blow out about it. Just like that time I helped Josh smuggle meth. She was mad about that.”

As Bobbie said this, the thought of going to jail once more popped to the front of her mind. She’d spent some time in the slammer when her dad’s meth lab had been shut down. She’d been held as an accomplice, which she supposed had been a fair evaluation. She wasn’t really keen on going back to jail, if only for the time she’d lose

If she went back to prison it could be ages before she saw her family again, not that she was that upset by the fact. She hadn’t actually been in a room with Ritchie for several years, her mother mostly just called to complain to her and her father had been in prison for the past nine years on another drug charge and aggravated assault as well as a second degree murder.

As for her sister Samantha, she didn’t talk to any of them anymore, having cut ties for good reason. Bobbie wondered briefly if she should try and give her a quick call, before remembering she’d thrown her phone out the window. She really needed to stop reacting before thinking.

She shrugged it off as she felt the sharp claws of Izzy dragging its way onto her lap. She pet the small things head, watching as Quinn and Jonna piled up to the front from the back, peering out the window. She wondered what they were seeing with those blank faces of theirs.

It was midafternoon by the time Bobbie found what she was looking for. Back when her and Laurie had first started dating, they’d follow a small dirt road back to a more private section of the forest of dean. When Laurie was a kid her parents apparently would take her camping down the road sometimes, and it had been one of her favorite places to go. Bobbie’s car disagreed with the sentiment however as it bumped over the potholes slowly closing the distance between Bobbie and the towering trees.

As she approached the forest she became aware that the babies chittering had grown louder. It had risen, climbing up into what she could only describe as a rising wail as they pressed themselves against the windows. Bobbie shook her head in confusion, before a sad thought grew in her mind. “I don’t think your mother’s about anymore.” She said quietly, before glancing forward and catching sight of something odd.

How had she not seen the gate? It was massive and looming, encircling the forest in a cylinders of black metal.

She stared at it in disbelief as she brought her car to a stop in front of it, the thick metal blocking off her entrance. “What?” She said, staring at the gate in disbelief, leaning forward to get a better look. She didn’t have time to think about it much though as in a rush of limbs, the babies began to claw furiously at the window, their efforts frantic. It was as though they could sense something she could not.

“Who put up a fence around the Forest of Dean?” She demanded, looking over towards the riled babies. “And what’s got you all worked up? Does this have something to do with you?” She didn’t get an answer, which was expected as she stared at the gate in front of her in disbelief.

There was a creeping feeling of unease that filled her as she stared at the gate, her hands tapping on the wheel. “Well I can’t go back.” She reasoned as she felt a bead of sweat trickling down her face. “And you four seem really excited about this… for some reason. Maybe it’s where you’re from?”

She turned around, looking back to the kennel and feeling a rising groan in her throat. The door was completely off of its hinges, the plastic of the carrier doing nothing to stop the babies inside. “Right, how to carry you though?” She mused as she stepped out of the car. She carefully closed the door behind her and walked up to the gate, looking over it. “Well, it shouldn’t be that difficult to climb.” She reasoned, rubbing her hands together. “Just think of it like it’s a rock wall Bobbie, just a rock wall at the gym.”

She heard the creak of her car door and spun around just in time to see Morrie try to hop out of the car, the small thing having somehow managed to maneuver the door handle. “NO!” She yelled, running to the creature and scooping it up. It gave a protesting hiss, but didn’t struggle as she held it, quickly shutting the door behind it.

“How am I supposed to keep track of you?” She lamented. The door swung open again and she turned around to find that this time Quinn had been the culprit. The three babies who remained in the car stared at her, before Izzy made a leap, causing Bobbie to jolt slightly. It’s sharp claws caught her clothing and climbed up her, settling on her shoulder. One by one, the other babies did the same, clinging to her shoulders as though they were some sort of small primate.

“Oh… well I suppose that solves that question,” Bobbie said, looking at the babies who now clung to her. “I’m flattered you trust me.” She walked around to her car door, retrieving her pack from the back and carefully sliding it on.

She rubbed her hands together as she stared at the fence in front of her, feeling a trickle of concern down her back. “Okay then… who’s ready to go look around this oddly over protected forest?” The babies cheeps had quieted, and she looked to them, finding that all of their faces were turned towards the forest. “All of you huh? Righty ho then, let’s climb this fence.” Bobbie said, cracking her knuckles as she mentally prepared herself to climb and for whatever might come after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I swear I'll be better. Probably going to update every two weeks or so... so yeah. Get ready cause Bobbie's about to have a hell of a time with an anomaly.


	5. Blast from the past.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's an anomaly in woods and Bobbie's adopted bunch seem real keen on getting through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me long enough, but hey we've gotten to the anomaly! Time to see if Bobbie will make smart choices...

The fence was… tricky. The wide bars made it hard to climb up the slippery metal, but Bobbie managed it, even as her pack and her small travel buddies threatened to throw her off with every inch of progress. She was sweating by the time she lowered herself down to the other side, glancing on her back to make sure the babies were still in tow. All four of them were quiet now, clinging her back and shoulders as the peered off into the afternoon tinted forest.

They’d stayed that way to, up until Bobbie was about two miles into the forest. That was when she got the first signs that they may be nearing some unseen destination. It was Quinn who seemed to sense it first, small cheeping beginning to pour in a rapid fashion from its mouth.

Then, the others followed, their wails becoming more chaotic until Bobbie frantically shushed them waving her hands in a slightly frantic motion. The noise they were making was loud enough to wake the dead.

She’d packed a bit of the beef jerky that had been left from the car into her pockets and she’d dished it out between the four in an effort to keep them quiet.

They did get quieter, but that didn’t stop them from staring very intently towards the place they clearly wanted her to go.

So, she’d gone.

Using their smalls heads as a compass as she’d navigated through the forest. It was quiet for the most part, a bit quieter than it normally was. Last time Bobbie had been in the Forest of Dean, there’d been bird cries and the sounds of things moving about in the undergrowth. Now though, everything seemed to have been muted.

It wasn’t natural, or at least Bobbie felt it wasn’t natural. Truth be told, she had no real logic behind why she should be nervous. After all, the critters might just be feeling a bit quieter this afternoon. It was a rather warm day, and this did tend to lull some animals into the shade of trees.

Sticks crunched under her boots as she walked forward, the babies clinging to her like lemurs. She’d been a bit afraid they’d scatter after she took a couple of steps, but it seemed now that they were outdoors they weren’t keen on leaving her. A sense of justified fear seemed to have settled on them even as they continued to stare off into the distance, clearly focused on… something.

She heard them before she saw them. The crackling of radios and sounds of people milling about, speaking in murmurs. Movement from large vehicles, sticks and leaves crunching beneath their tires.

The babies, who had finished their beef jerky did not return to their screaming. Instead, they cheeped quietly as they lowered themselves to Bobbie’s shoulders, small heads bobbing up and down.

Jonna gave a hiss in Bobbie’s ear and Bobbie tensed in worry. However, the babies did not return to their wailing. She could feel their small bodies, stiff against her back and neck. They were scared.

Still, their small heads did not waver. They wanted her to go in this direction, despite their obvious fear. Something it seemed, was worth continuing forward for. Bobbie trusted their judgment.

Keeping low to the ground, she wove between tree’s, eyes peering through the foliage as she attempted to make herself as small as possible. This was not an easy task, Bobbie was not a small woman. On top of that, she wasn’t a graceful woman either and her movements were riddled with missteps, making far more noise than necessary. The foliage crunched beneath her feet, each step she took sounding like a gunshot to her.

By some miracle though, she was not discovered as she edged up to a tree, peering around it at the scene beyond.

She first saw the men and black trucks. The men were formidable, and the trucks held an air of professionalism to them. They were the sort of trucks that showed up when you were really in trouble. Bobbie had experience with trucks like this, vivid memories of them surrounding her childhood home ever lingering in her mind.

Then she saw the ground. Equipment was scattered about it and people stood, voices slightly hushed. There was a tension you could have cut with a knife lingering in the air and as Bobbie looked about, she found her gaze stolen by something bright and shining.

If she was honest, she had no idea what she was seeing.

It looked like some sort of weird screen saver, but higher definition. Flickering panes of light floated in the air, forever merging, shrinking and fading as they stayed within the rim of the oval they formed.

She stared at it in disbelief as the glowing light that hung suspended in the air. It’s color was that of a golden hue, looking a bit to her like window that had been shattered, forever caught in a constant wave of motion. It induced slight nausea in Bobbie, and she forced herself to look away as her mind tired to grasp the situation. All she could come up with though, was a single word to describe it.

Weird.

As she thought this, she felt a shift on her back and the babies began to make noise. Their faces were turned towards the light, small clawed hands reaching out towards it.

She frantically shushed at them as they began to squeak a bit louder, their noise causing Bobbie’s stomach to clench. They wanted to go to it she realized. For what reason though, she was unsure.

“Shush!” Bobbie said, hastily reaching her brawny arms up and pulling the small things from her shoulders, holding them tightly in her arms. “They’ll hear us and I’m not keen on having a throwdown with this many people!”

Bobbie knew how to throw a punch, but she didn’t think that was going to help her if one of the many men in black decided to take a head shot. “I don’t even know what that is,” She whispered to the small creatures, feeling sweat breaking out across her forehead. “What do you expect me to do?”

As she asked this, her gaze darted about the group, her eyes falling on to people standing a little ways away from the main mass. She felt her brows narrow slightly. These two people, she recognized from the day before. Stephen and Abby, that had been their names right?

The woman with the short blond hair was leaning up against a tree, her eyes watching the glowing light. Bobbie could see worry in those eyes, anxiety.

Abby, or at least Bobbie thought this must be her name, spoke in a low voice to the brown-haired man beside her. Her head was tilted close to him, her words clearly only meant for him. Bobbie got the distinct feeling that it would be prudent of her to figure out what they were saying. After all, she got the sense that the two knew what was going on.

Honestly, she was amazed she managed to get close enough to the conversation without anyone seeing her. She tripped and moved in an ungainly fashion, tiptoeing behind tree after tree before she came to a stop as close as she could feasibly get to the pair.

“You reckon they’re okay?” The woman’s voice held an anxious twang to it as she stared at the light through narrowed eyes. Stephen said nothing for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I think…” He began, but his words were interrupted by a black-haired fedora wearing man who stood a little ways off from them. He’d been previously bent over some of the equipment, but his attention had snapped to the conversation happening beside him.

“I mean, they’ve got a whole team right? Should be fine,” he said in a voice that held jitters of anxious energy.

That was perhaps Connor? Bobbie figured he looked like a boy who’d be named Connor. The woman glanced at him with a mixture of irritation and worry. “Right, but they’re down to one baby and they’re relying on Helen. If you ask me, that’s a recipe for disaster.”

One baby? Bobbie tensed up as she glanced anxiously at the four babies who were still clutched tightly to her. She did a quick headcount, before admonishing herself. Of course she still had four, she’d always had four. Had there been another one though?

The tear in the wire, she’d wondered if one of their small bodies had made it when the box had been thrown. Had one of them been tossed out? How hurt had it been? When the babies had cried, had they been crying for their lost sibling?

She pushed the thoughts away, unable to deal with them in that moment. She had a job, and the job was to figure out how to get through that glowing… thingy. Her attention returned to the conversation. “Well, whatever they’re doing I wish they’d hurry up.” Abby was talking again, her eyes fixed on the golden glow in front of her. “Connor are you sure it’s stable?”

Connor nodded his head, fedora tilting slightly. “Yah, I’m sure. Don’t know why it shifted for a second there the anomaly is stable.”

Stephen jerked his head in what seemed to be agreement, eyes still fixed on the glowing light. Anomaly, what a weird word for it… But at least now Bobbie was getting a feel for what the thing might be.

It was a portal of some regard and it sounded as though it was safe for people to go through. Bobbie relaxed slightly against the tree, at least that gave her a game plan. Bobbie was a simple woman, and though the strangeness of this scenario was rapidly going above and beyond what she had expected, her mind chose to focus on the important things. That being how exactly she was planning on getting her small guests through that glowing fixture in the air.

“I’m not worried about them.”

Bobbie glanced from her hiding spot once more, eyes focusing on the man, Stephen. He leaned against his tree, eyes narrowed slightly as he stared forward towards the floating lights with a pensive look. “I’m worried about the fact we still haven’t located the other four babies.”

Bobbie surreptitiously glanced down at the small creatures in her arms, hugging them tighter as she narrowed her eyes.

“Honestly, what was she thinking? They aren’t exactly cute and cuddly are they?” Connor added, shaking his head. Abby’s hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, her black ringed eyes narrowing slightly as she stared at the anomaly.

“Maybe she thinks we did that to them. You know, made them all weird. Maybe she’s a conspiracy theorist, like you Connor.” Abby’s frown broke for a second as she shot Connor a rather pointed smile.

Connor folded his arms and said in a defensive voice. “Hey, at least I’d have the good sense to know they were dangerous.” Bobbie considered this train of thought as the two began to bicker. She supposed that was a logical thing to assume. Too late to have regrets now though...

As the two’s bickering continued, she decided she’d heard enough. After all, her mission was more urgent than it had been before.

She needed through that anomaly not simply because the babies had asked it of her, but because there was another baby on the other side. Four must become five she thought as she snuck away from her hiding spot, falling back into the trees. She had to save the wee thing from whatever fate these people had planned for it.

“All right,” she whispered as she crouched down on the forest floor, placing the babies in front of her. “We’ve got to get through that ‘anomaly’, whatever that means, and we need to do it without getting seen.” Izzy let out a quiet cheep, tilting its head and Bobbie nodded her head. “Exactly Izzy, there are far too many people for me to simply sneak past and they’re monitoring the damn thing like it’s a high security prison.”

Morrie tottered slightly, moving towards her and falling forward onto its middle. “Fair point, I am a bit clumsy,” mused Bobbie, tilting her head to the side as she glanced back towards where she knew the people were. “Of course, if they’re attention was on something else…”

Her eye lit up as a smile crawled up her face. “Oh, you know what, I’ve got the greatest plan. My old man taught me this trick back when we still ran the lab together. Course, we’re going to have to move quick, it can be a bit dangerous.” She reached her arms down, and the babies scampered up them, clinging to her shoulders and pack as they found perches. “Great work team! Now hold tight, this might get a tad exciting,” she said, rising to her feet.

Carefully, she looked through the trees, her eyes finding the trucks that were parked a little ways out from the main sight. There were a couple of armed men near it, but they lingered on the outskirts, out of sight and out of mind.

Bobbie hastily dug through the pockets of her backpack, retrieving two items that she’d packed with her. Her box of matches, along with a rather large hunting knife. The knife had been a gift from her brother Ritchie back on her twenty-sixth birthday. She’d really been a fan of the thing in all its pointy glory but had never found a moment to use it. After all, she wasn’t exactly the most outdoorsy person and Laurie had always given the blade a bit of side eye.

Knife and matches in hand, Bobbie snuck through the woods, picking the truck that was furthest away from the gathered group. She snuck with effort through the brush that surrounded her, approaching the black car. Sidling up the side, she pressed her knife through the lid that covered the gas tank, popping to loose with a quick twist of her knife.

“Now, we really shouldn’t be doing this. It’s dangerous and there is a chance we’ll get caught in a crossfire,” Bobbie whispered as she unscrewed the cap of the cars gasoline tank. “But we don’t really have another choice, at least not one I can think up on the fly.”

She peered down into the gas tank and felt relief flow over her mixed with a sudden uptick in her heart rate. The tank didn’t seem to full her eyes staring into a black and mostly empty hole. If she had to estimate, she’d have suspected the tank was down over half. This was good. If it had been any fuller, there was a damn good chance what she was about to try wouldn’t have worked.

With a quick motion, she struck a match. It flared to life in her hand and she stared at it for a second, before hastily dropping it down into the open gas tank, then shutting the cap behind it. The second it was screwed on, she booked it away from the car, not bothering to be quiet.

If, as she assumed, the tank was closer to empty, the gas would likely catch on fire. If that was the case, then by her own actions she’d sealed off the tank, meaning that the expanding gasses would have nowhere to go, which should mean. She hit the ground as a muffled explosion rocked the air. There was a roar of light and heat behind her and just inches to her left a metal scrap flew by, lodging itself deep in a tree. The babies clung tighter to her, their wails lost in the thunderous noise of voices yelling in panic.

“What in the HELL just happened?” Came a demanding voice and Bobbie watched through her small gap of trees as a man in a nice-looking suit came into view, glaring in disbelief at the wreckage in front of him. Behind him, an alarmed looking woman with brown hair stared, eyes wide at the wreck of the car that still burned in a fiery heat. Bobbie didn’t wait for another chance.

All attention was focused on the smoldering car, the men with guns circling it, pointing their weapons off into the forest behind them, looks of fear on their faces. If there was a time for her to try and enter the anomaly this was it.

Bending her knees, she bolted across the clear space, moving her way towards the gleaming light. She really hoped that all you had to do was walk through it, because otherwise she was likely about to waste the only chance she was going to get. Didn’t portal’s normally take special things to get through them? She wasn’t sure, this was the first portal she’d ever encountered, and she hadn’t been a big reader as a child, thus leaving her with little fantasy logic she could apply.

At least she assumed it was some sort of portal, and as she approached it she really hoped her assumption was not incorrect. Something about that light felt… threatening, but it was far to late to turn back now. So instead she stayed her course, closing her eyes as she leapt forward.

Her body felt as though it was being wrapped in warmth as she stumbled through the glowing light, staggering a couple more steps before she managed to stop herself. She was alive, and this along brought her comfort as she opened her eyes.

“Well that wasn’t so…” She trailed off, as she took a look at her surroundings.

Rolling hills of dirt stretched out in front of her, cracked and sprawling. Stubby bits of shrubs sprouted about her, taller trees growing in valley far below her. She stood atop a mountain of earth, the sun beating down on her rather pale skin as she gazed, mouth open. There was a soft cry from above and she looked up, spotting a pack of what appeared to be flying lizards darting and weaving in the sky.

They shone a bright green under the sun, and she shielded her eyes as she stared at them. She turned around, staring at the gleaming light behind her. They air was dry and clawed at her lungs as she filled them repeatedly. Clearly, she wasn’t in the Forest of Dean anymore.

“Where in the bloody hell am I?” She said quietly as she licked her dry lips, the hot sun beating down on her. It looked like a desert, yet she good the oddest feeling this wasn’t like any desert she’d ever seen. She’d have probably stayed lost in the view for several more minutes, if it hadn’t been for the babies.

The first cry came from Quinn. The small creature’s head swiveled as though hearing something she could not and started to let out keening cry after keening cry. The others quickly joined, and Bobbie could hear the urgency in their voices. There was something nearby, something they wanted.

“I should be moving, gotcha!” Bobbie said as she shook of her amazement and hurriedly began to move across the dirt, watching the babies out of the corner of her eyes. Just like in the forest, it was clear they knew exactly where they wanted her to go. Their small heads remained turned towards the destination, bobbing slightly as they seemed to focus on something far out in front of her.

She weaved around looming rocks, dirt skidding under her feet as she threw caution to the wind, her excitement and anxiety matching that of the small creatures on her back. Wherever they were going, it had to be important.

Maybe they were trying to guide her to their home. Sure, they’re parent was dead according to Claudia, but maybe they were a social species? Perhaps there were others of their kind that could care for them.

Or maybe they had homed in on their missing sibling. If that was the case, Bobbie was already ready for a bit of a fight, though to be honest she hadn’t thought it fully through. After all, the people she would be fighting would have weapons. Bobbie had a knife, but she didn’t think that would do much against an automatic.

These thoughts were interrupted as a horrible shrieking overlapping with furious roaring split the air from somewhere nearby. Bobbie nearly came to a stop, but in that moment her worst fears came to light. The babies, who had been so good up until now sprung from her back, running across the ground their bells jingling.

Bobbie had little time to react. Frantically she began running again, the horrible noises around her causing her heart rate to spike and her body to fill with adrenaline. The babies weren’t overly fast, and she caught up with them, snatching them from the earth as they attempted to make their getaway.

“Wait! Just wait a second!” She protested, as they struggled, clawing frantically against her in an attempt to free themselves. Their small claws left blood marks, cutting deep into her flesh but Bobbie didn’t have time to acknowledge this.

The roaring was getting louder and as she crested a hill, she saw one hell of a sight below her. The creatures tussled, locked in vicious combat. One of them was some sort of four-legged beast with sharp sabre fangs. It was massive, about the size of a small bus if Bobbie reckoned right.

It was bucking and snarling as another absolutely massive creature clung to its back, tearing bloody chunks from it. The thing was huge, far bigger than Bobbie would guessed the babies had the capacity to grow into.

But that’s what it had to be, an adult of the small creatures that were held firmly in her arms. The resemblance between it and the babies was clear, down to the stubby spikes on the chin and thick curved claws. That wasn’t all though.

The babies reached for the creature, indicating that it was who they were trying to reach. “They must not have gotten both,” Bobbie said to herself as she stared at the fight happening below her. “That’s one of your parents, it’s got to be!”

The ground around the two of them was caked in blood, the substance smeared in a liberal fashion all about the clearing. Bodies were scattered about, human bodies. It seemed as though one of the creatures, though Bobbie didn’t dare hazard a guess which one, had made short work of the team who’d gone through the anomaly.

With a lunge the two creatures staggered back, falling through a cluster of tree’s and Bobbie quickly circled about, keen on catching sight of what happened. As she did she noticed two figures huddled just out of sight. One of them was the blond-haired man, Nick Cutter and the other could have only been the woman known as Helen. Bobbie didn’t stop to think on it too much, keen on finding out how the fight ended.

Through the shrubs she tore, skidding to a halt in front of the battle scene that was unfolding. Things were not going well. The odd, almost ape like dark creature had been thrown from it’s perch, a trail of blood leading to it. The massive saber fanged beast gave a roar as it stalked towards the limp body, it’s intentions clear.

She didn’t have time to think, only act. “In the tree!” She roared as she shoved the babies up the nearest one. They scuttled up, still crying out as they made their way up into the branches above she dropped her pack to the ground. The last thing she needed was to be burdened down in what was clearly going to be a fight.

Bobbie turned, pulling out her knife as she eyed the hide of the creature. She had no idea what she was doing, but what she did know was that she couldn’t let that massive black monster die. It had babies to take care of and Bobbie would be damned if she let it die and saddled her with that responsibility.

She reached down, picking up a rock from the ground and throwing it hard, striking the saber-toothed beasts head. The stone bounced off and it whipped around, eyes fixing on her in a flash.

“OHY, LAY OFF ASSHOLE!” Bobbie snarled, waving the knife at the creature. The creature looked at her for a second, before clearly deciding she wasn’t worth its time and turning back towards the collapsed monster on the ground.

“Oh no you don’t!” Before Bobbie knew what she was doing, her feet beat across the ground taking her rapidly toward the beast. Her knife slashed as she cut its flank. It was good that her knife was sharp she thought. This thing’s hide was thick, the razor-edged blade barely managing to cut through it.

She jumped back as it spun around, front feet slamming the ground as it roared furiously at her. It was clear that though the damage was not serious, it took offense to her actions. “Come on then fucker,” she taunted, before turning and running for dear life.

It was a nice thought, but Bobbie wasn’t exactly agile. Her tactical retreat was cut short as her shoe caught on a rock and sent her sprawling. She hit the ground hard, which in the long term saved her as the beast lunged for her. It’s calculations for where she’d be were wrong and it sailed over her head, colliding with a rather large tree.

It staggered slightly as it stumbled away from it, shaking its head as blood dripped from open lacerations across its body. It straightened up, eyeing Bobbie up and down with obvious irritation. It seemed to be making a judgment call.

“I can do this all day,” Bobbie lied through her teeth. The creature stared at her, clearly not understanding a word she was saying. However, it seemed that despite this it decided that the situation in front of it was one hundred percent not worth its time. After all it had been blinded in one eye and had an obvious limp to one of its back legs.

It let out a snort, followed by a furious roar, before turning and wandering back towards where the original bloodshed had been. Likely it had decided that it had enough food as it was and killing Bobbie and the creature was simply a waste of its time. Bobbie fully supported it’s choice.

Still, she watched it wander back off through the trees making sure it was actually leaving. It body was so mangled and bloody, that it left a bad taste in her mouth. A small part of her whispered the obvious fact that the thing would likely not live too much longer with such devastating injuries and she felt a hint of pity for it. This was quickly overwhelmed by concern as she heard the babies crying out from the tree she’d left them in. Morrie was already halfway down and she hastily ran over, dropping the knife as she helped the babies down into her arms.

“Okay, you’re okay,” she whispered to them as she clung to them tightly, her eyes wandering towards the collapsed black form.

“Oh shit… please be alive,” she begged, uttering a silent prayer as she closed the distance between her and the creature. It looked so dead as she approached, so utterly collapsed against the dirt. She dropped to her knees, babies tumbling from her arms as they hesitantly approached the body. Bobbie held her breath, watching as the nosed gently at the collapsed creature, their cries pitiful.

Then, Bobbie’s heart soared as she saw a limb twitch. The creature’s head raised slightly as it looked about, clearly dazed as it observed the babies crawling across its wounded body. It let out a low chittering growl as it pushed itself up in a fashion that was clearly painful, two clawed hands hastily gathering the babies to it as it looked between them as though in shock. It nuzzled letting out low wuffs of air as the babies surrounded it in a desperate fashion. After a second, it struggled to get to its feet, its limbs shaking as it did so.

Bobbie took a step forward, her hand reaching out to help. In a second, the creatures head snapped towards her. It let out a ferocious hiss, snapping its teeth at her as it rose back onto all fours in a flash, blood still draining from its wounds. The babies clung to it, little collars jingling as Bobbie took several steps back, hands held out in front of her. “Okay, I see how it is, you’re not a fan.”

The creature snarled and made a move to dart forward. It’s efforts were stopped as it buckled slightly, its injuries clearly taking a hard toll on it.

It’s breathing grew more rapid, as it glanced behind it, seeming to be caught between choices. It clearly really wanted to attack her – wanted her dead and gone from this world. However, it was obviously in a lot of pain.

It staggered slightly and this sign of weakness seemed to finally make up its mind. It turned and with a sudden burst of speed, took off through the undergrowth. Bobbie let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging even as her heart thumped in worry. The babies were back with a parent, a parent who she hoped against hope would be able to take care of them.

Bobbie sunk to the ground as her feelings overwhelmed her and for what had to be twenty minutes she just sat there. It felt like she had lived a lifetime. She placed her hands in her hands, her breaths coming in and out as she felt herself slowly calming down. After she was finally good again, she stood up, wincing in pain as she glanced down at her arms.

A small air of sadness sat in her chest as she looked at the gashes that had been left behind. Not because of the injuries, but because of the knowledge that she would likely never see the babies again. It had only been a day and a half, but Bobbie was a real softy. _I really shouldn’t have named them_ , she thought to herself as she walked over and picked up her pack, sliding it onto her back.

As she thought this, her mind turned to the bloodstained massacre she’d seen and a weird feeling erupted in her stomach. Had the dead baby been among the corpses? She turned and, without fully knowing the reason why, began to weave her way out towards where she’d seen it. She stopped at the edge of the tree’s, peering out at the scene before her. It was, quite frankly, disgusting. Blood stained everything. The trees, the ground, everything. She had no idea what in the hell she’d missed, but it had clearly been brutal. In the center of the carnage, a small crate lay broken open.

She carefully glanced about, making sure that neither the two still living people, nor the massive beast with sabre teeth were anywhere to be seen. She saw no one and so made her way to the broken open metal crate. It didn’t take her long to find the smashed remains. A small black body, broken by an intense force lay next to the box. She stared at it, feeling an ache in her heart as she knelt down. “Poor baby,” she said, picking it up gently. She’d bury it she decided, give it a nice little send off.

Perhaps though, she’d do that when she got back home. An aching worry began to form in the back of her mind as she recalled some rather pointed words said by the young man named Connor. The anomaly is stable. That had to mean that it was sometimes unstable right? Bobbie wasn’t keen on getting trapped away from her world so she quickened her pace, making her way towards where she knew the anomaly was.

Of course, there was the matter of getting back through without being spotted by any of the gun toting government agents on the other side, but Bobbie figured she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. As she walked, she glanced over to her left, down into a ravine, and came to a standstill. A massive herd of grey and scaly creatures meandered their way below her, letting out snorts and grunts as they seemed to communicate among one another.

She stared down at them, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure it out. Maybe she was in an alternate dimension, she decided as she watched the herd move together. Or maybe she was in the past? But no, that wouldn’t explain what that babies had been. Or maybe those were something that had existed in history and Bobbie had simply never heard of them.

This possibility as a very real one. Bobbie had never been the most educated person, having scored straight C’s all throughout her high school experience, or at least the little she’d actually attended. Not that any of it really mattered, she figured that she’d probably never see this place again after she left it.

Her thoughts once again drifted back to her ex brood who were know no doubt happily with their parent. A parent that she really hoped wasn’t too hurt to keep them safe. She almost wished it had held still a bit longer, she did have a first aid kit buried somewhere in her bag. Granted though, she wasn’t quite sure on how to take care of the injuries of an unknown creature and she had a bad feeling it might have just bit a chunk out of her if she tried.

As she climbed the hill of dirt she’d come tumbling down previously, she saw the anomaly glimmering at the crest of it. At last, she’d made it. Of course, getting through it was going to be a whole other story. She came to a stop in front of it, staring at it intently for several seconds as she pondered how best to do this. Maybe if she just ran really fast they wouldn’t put a bullet in the back of her skull? Somehow she doubted it.

She was about to simply swallow down her worry and step forward, when the anomaly flickered. She took a step back as someone stepped through the light. Out of the strange glimmer stepped the woman whose name Bobbie had determined was named Helen. She had a smile on her face, a rather self-satisfied smile as of someone who’d just finished causing a whole boatload of trouble.

Her brown hair bounced across her back as she took several purposeful steps forward, then came to a stop, staring over at Bobbie. Bobbie stared right back, feeling uncomfortable as the smile on the woman’s face seemed to grow even broader. Something about this lady didn’t feel right.

It was ridiculous to be nervous of course. Bobbie was at least an inch taller than her and was no doubt physically far stronger, but there was something in her eyes. Something that informed Bobbie that fucking around with her would be a bad decision. Helen looked her up and down, before folding her arms and saying with a smile.

“Looks like they did a rather poor job watching the anomaly then?” She said as she tilted her head. “Who might you be?”

She didn’t recognize her and for this Bobbie was massively grateful. Quickly she cleared her throat, searching for the right words to cover her ass. “Er, no one important. Just got curious.”

Helen laughed and looked about them, her eyes taking on a slightly dreamy look. “I suppose I can’t blame you, this place is amazing. Do you know where you are?” Bobbie shook her head slowly, really wishing this woman would just go on her merry way. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure why she had come back through the anomaly in the first place. Had she forgotten something on this side?

“You’re in the Permian era,” Helen said, as though this was supposed to mean something to Bobbie. Bobbie waited for her to give her more details, before realizing that this was all she was getting. “Right, Permian. So what is that exactly?” Helen seemed surprised, before she seemed to choke on laughter.

“Is it like, some sort of name for a period of history?” Bobbie asked tilting her head slightly. “Are we talking dinosaurs?”

Helen seemed to regain control of herself as she gestured towards Bobbie. “Your more brawn then brains I take it.”

“Yes,” confirmed Bobbie with a nod, feeling faintly relived she’d picked up on that. “Didn’t do so well in school, all accept gym that is.” Helen looked around her surroundings again, as though considering them before looking back to Bobbie. Bobbie felt as though she was measuring her up somehow.

“Well, if you’ve got enough brawn you might just stand a chance out here,” she said with a causal shrug. “At least for a little while.”

“Oh, I’m not staying.” Bobbie said quickly, looking over towards the anomaly. She noted that the flickering seemed to be getting worse.

“What’s that in your arms?”

The question distracted her and she turned to see that Helen was staring at the corpse of the baby that she’d picked up. Bobbie thought fast, feeling like giving this woman to many details was not in her best interest. “I found it back at some large site full of metal boxes. I was going to bury it.”

Helen looked nonplussed, giving Bobbie a weird look. “Why exactly?” She asked, brow furrowing slightly.

Bobbie shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, same reason kids give dead birds elaborate funerals. You gotta do what you gotta do and all that.” Apparently Helen had not been among those kids who gave dead birds funerals. She tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow at Bobbie.

“Aren’t you… quirky.” Helen said.

Bobbie stared at her blankly. “I mean, that’s the first I’ve heard of it.” She said, offering an awkward smile. She wasn’t sure what this woman was trying to get at, but she really wanted this conversation to be done.

“Well I should go,” she said after a moment of silence. Helen blinked, before what Bobbie could only describe as a sly smile slid up her face.

“Of course. I wouldn’t want to keep you,” she peered behind Bobbie before saying with a raised eyebrow. “Might be a bit tricky, now that the anomaly is gone.”

Bobbie turned her head, staring at the empty air behind her. The glowing light was gone, snapping out of existence as though it had never been. Her mouth fell open as her head turned back towards were Helen was, only to see her retreating back. “Does it come back?” Her emotions suspended in an overwhelming feeling of shock.

“Eventually!” Helen called, waving her hand as she did not turn around. “I’d stock up on some supplies if I were you, you’re going to be here for a while.”

Bobbie looked back to the air, reaching out her hand as though if she just reached for it, it would magically appear in front of her. She leaned forward, her hands closing about the air repeatedly, before she gave up.

Bobbie looked back towards Helen whose figure was retreating into the trees. She’d known it was closing, had she just kept Bobbie talking to trap her here? Why? It seemed unnecessarily cruel. Bobbie considered chasing after her, but the idea made her stomach clench. She was afraid of her and that was that. There was no debating the feeling or talking around it, Bobbie was simply afraid. More afraid than she was of being alone in this strange new world.

With an exhale she turned to face her surroundings, all at once the sprawling landscape far more threatening than fascinating. Helen was right of course, Bobbie sure there were guns with unused clips and those metal boxes were no doubt full of food. If she was going to survive, she’d have to start out strong.

Bobbies hands tightened around her backpack as she felt a shiver run up her spine. There would be time for panic later, but first she had to get somewhere safe. Maybe Helen was just being superfluous when she said it took the anomaly awhile to reappear. Bobbie clung to this thought as she began to make her way down the dirt hill, her mind fixed firmly on her goals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not primeval unless somebody gets trapped in the past. Bobbie's going to have to get her shit together if she wants to survive.


	6. In Want Of Company In Any Form

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie is alone in the Permian, surviving best she can when she gets a visit from four nuisances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie's doing that survival thing and she's having a hell of a time with it.

Five days didn’t sound like a long time when you said it out loud, but Bobbie had always known better. Five days is how long she’d been held in juvie after she was arrested the first time. Five days of guards and routine and rules and angry glances.

Five days of never being fully alone.

Well, at least she had that now. Bobbie was very, very alone.

She’d spent the first day raiding the metal boxes and retrieving guns. Bobbie had never been the biggest fan of guns, at least in terms of their use and names. It had taken her a decent amount of time to even figure out which bullets were for which weapon, though she hadn’t left till she’d solved that puzzle. After all, Bobbie wasn’t keen on walking about in the past without being armed.

Her camp was set up a little way down a ravine she’d found, were a stream of fresh water ran. She remembered Laurie at one point telling her that fast moving water was better for you then stagnant water. Something about bacteria growth. Bobbie had no idea what any of that meant, but she had to remembered to boil any water she intended to drink to try and avoid parasites. The last thing she needed was an infection.

As for her camp, Bobbie thought she’d set it up rather nicely. She’d found a small outcrop in some boulders that looked too small for anything too dangerous to squeeze into.

It had been difficult setting up her tent in such a small space, and the poles had squeezed together somewhat but she’d made it work. With the dehydrated food she’d found in the metal boxes, she’d managed to set herself up in quite a livable position.

At least a temporary livable position. Bobbie was currently laying in her tent, machine gun resting across her chest as she came out from a deep sleep. She wasn’t sure what had woken her, but as she became conscious the prickles of filth about her skin was enough to make her fully open her eyes. That, along with the ache the lacerations on her arm gave off was enough to yank her in an unpleasant fashion to the surface of reality.

She groaned, wiping sweat of her forehead as she listened to the world outside. The sound of insects buzzing about filled her mind and some part of her registered how weird it was not to hear the sounds of birds singing.

Course, birds weren’t there yet were they? Or rather, they were, they were just a lot bigger and lot more dangerous. The fact that dinosaurs had evolved into birds was the only fact she really knew. It had really been a shock to learn after watching through the Jurassic Park franchise.

What had woken her up? She shifted slightly, hearing a sound in the back of her mind. She wasn’t sure if it was a memory at first, but as it became more pronounced, a firm scratching began to filter through her sleep hazed mind, causing her eyes to widen.

Her mind identified the noises then in a sudden rush. Wailing, the wailing of some sort of animal. Not just any baby animal either she thought with a sudden burst of energy as she sat up. She’d fallen asleep on top of her sleeping bag the previous evening, the atmosphere here far to hot to even allow consideration for sleeping inside of it.

She saw small claws stuck through the fabric of her tent. They ripped down, before repeating the motion again and again. They weren’t alone either, small bodies slapping against the outside of her tent. Bobbie carefully put the gun down at her side before moving to the front of the flap and zipping it open. “Hey! HEY, no breaking my tent!” She said as she stuck her head out to look at the small gathering that was outside of it.

They were all there and all of them were still wearing their small collars. Morrie and Jonna it seemed were the ones responsible for tearing holes in her tent, while Izzy was responsible for the dreadful wailing. Quinn had been frantically pacing a little ways away and was the only silent one out of the group.

As soon as Bobbie’s head emerged, the babies stopped what they were doing. Jonna and Morrie stopped tearing her tent to shreds and Izzy went quiet. Quinn hastily approached, joining its siblings as it peered up at her with its eyeless face.

Then, they all came at her, jumping hastily to cover her as the let out small squeals. Their small claws cut nicks in her, but honestly Bobbie was just happy to see them. She tumbled back into her tent, covered in babies as she gathered them up into her arms. “Alright, alright I guess I’m happy to see you to,” she laughed as she gathered them onto her lap. Her shoulders leaked fresh blood, but she couldn’t have cared less as she stared down at her collection of small babies. Her smile faded as she looked between them.

“Wait, where’s the big one?” She said, feeling her heart clench in her chest. If they babies were here… what did that mean? What had happened to their parent? As Bobbie thought about it she realized just how rough the creature had looked.

What if it had succumbed to its injuries?

What if it was currently succumbing to its injuries?

Bobbie supposed it could also be hunting her somewhere in the undergrowth, but she didn’t see much credibility in this claim. Not because she didn’t think it was possible, but because she was more worried about the alterative at the moment.

The babies wiggled in her grasp and she realized they were trying to get free. She hastily opened her arms and all four of them scampered with surprising agility out of her tent, their small bells jingling as they went. Izzy stuck its head back inside, eyeless face seeming to give her a pointed look. “You’re asking for help aren’t you?” Bobbie said, even though it was a fairly pointless question. Obviously the baby was asking for help.

Izzy gave a cheeping cry and Bobbie hastily reached over, slinging the salvaged gun onto her back. It was possible she was being very hasty, but she’d never been one to think in situations like this. The babies were in trouble and Bobbie was nothing if not reliable.

“Right, lead the way then,” she said as she slid from the protection of her tent. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she wasn’t about to abandon these babies now. If their caretaker was in trouble… well, Bobbie felt it was on her to do something about it.

As Bobbie exited her fabric home, she watched as the babies milled about in her campsite. It was fascinating how they moved. Apparently they weren’t stuck in their quadruped form. They could switch between them, though it was clear that going on four legs was far easier.

Morrie especially seemed to be fond of walking about on two legs. It wobbled through the brush, far clumsier that its siblings as they let out keening cries, it’s legs shaking as it attempted to stay upright. It was an odd sight to watch and Bobbie did wonder somewhat, where they trying to mimic her?

Another wail from Izzy made her flinch and she hastily held her fingers up to her lips.

“Come on now, be a bit quiet,” Bobbie hushed as she looked around nervously. She’d seen a lot of large creatures since she’d first arrived here, and she wasn’t keen on picking a fight with any of them.

Sure, she may have gone up against that saber-toothed beast with vigor, but that had only been to keep the babies safe. If push came to shove, Bobbie’s preferred method of avoiding danger was simply running. The things in this world were bigger than her, meaner than her. She may not have been the brightest, but even she knew that sometimes running was the best option.

“Just settle down, I’m coming,” She said as she finally finished adjusting her pack, turning towards the babies and throwing up her arms. “Well, out with it. Where do you want to go?” The babies came to a halt, there frenzied movements ceasing. They all exchanged glances, before they took off through the brush. Bobbie was quick to follow, though she found she had to jog to keep up with them.

_They grow up so fast_ Bobbie thought as she followed after them, guided by the small bells on their collars. They were still a bit clumsy granted, but far less so than they had been five days ago. Their sped was quite fast for their size and Bobbie found it was hard to keep up with them.

“Slow down you scamps!” Bobbie protested as they exited out of Bobbie’s wooded area, making their way in a hurried fashion across a large rocky clearing. Bobbie slowed down slightly as she entered into it, having tripped over a rock in this exact place only the day before. She had a nasty scrape up her leg as a testament to it.

Along with that, the open space made her nervous. On instinct Bobbie brought the gun up to her shoulder as she continued to follow the babies. The a day or to back she’d encountered a herd of scaly looking massive beasts that lumbered about and reminded her a bit of rhinos. One of them had charged her and she’d had to put a couple bullets in it to convince it that it didn’t actually want to trample her.

She didn’t leave markers to follow as she followed her small guides. In truth, she wasn’t worried about finding her way back to camp. Bobbie had always had an impeccable sense of direction, a trait her boss had appreciated.

Or perhaps her ex-boss? Was she fired yet she wondered, she hadn’t turned up for a while. She still had vacation days left though, so maybe he didn’t know anything was wrong.

Not that directions were really going to be that much of a problem it seemed. The babies seemed to be leading her in a fairly straight line, no deviating much from it as they scampered over boulders, leading her further and further out of the clearing.

Bobbie wondered how it was that they’d found her. Clearly they’d manage to navigate to where she was all by their little lonesome. Perhaps they were smarter than she’d originally given them credit for she thought as they darted into the forest in front of her. Bobbie swatted at branches, grateful to be out of the field of boulders as she stuck close behind the babies.

Their journey ended in what Bobbie estimated to be half an hour. She climbed up rockfalls, dodged trees and had nearly twisted her ankle in a hole, but she’d managed to keep on their tail. She knew they were getting close, when the cheeping ahead of her got louder, more frenzied. As though the babies were excited about something that lay ahead.

It was when she heard the returning call, that she knew they’d reached the right area.

The woods were thick where they had entered, branches lifting up towards the sky, hiding any occupants who might be in them. The shade was welcome, as it was a hot day. Still, walking through such thick foliage made Bobbie twitchy, her finger forever wishing to linger on the trigger of her gun.

Loud, yet weak cries pierced her eardrums as they approached, making her slow slightly. The babies called out in response and as they came nearer. As the babies came to a stop at the foot of a tree, Bobbie realized the creature they were calling to was located somewhere above them. The towering conifer they had gathered about stretched far, far up towards the sky and Bobbie was quite frankly amazed they’d managed to get down from the tree.

They’d barely survived her apartment, how had they suddenly become so agile?

Bobbie hung back and she was gratefully she did as a massive black mass fell from the tree, landing gracelessly on the ground. It was colossal, even more immense then Bobbie remembered. It’s body, twitched slightly as it staggered, it’s nostrils flaring as it no doubt took in the scent of its brood.

It lifted its eyeless face to stare at its babies as with weak motions it gathered them in, carefully examining each one of them as it called back to their cries.

Large wounds laced the creatures body and one its legs didn’t seem to be working right. It seemed almost feverish as it nosed at the babies, as though blearily checking that they were all right.

Chitters erupted from its mouth, discordant and oddly laggy, as though it was having trouble making noise. No doubt it was supposed to be some sort of lecture about wandering off, though Bobby got the feeling that this creature was not fully coherent.

The babies cheeped in response before Izzy turned and ran over to where Bobbie was. The creatures head turned upwards and all at once its broken body became a lot more animated.

Bobbie had no idea how it had pulled itself together so fast It lowered to the ground, limbs tensed as it moved with lightening speed a couple of steps forward. In a second, the creature was in front of her face, staring her down as its teeth clicked together. Its claws flexed in a clear sign of aggression as it seemed to dare her to move, to do anything.

Prickles of pain came from Bobbie’s legs as Izzy hastily climbed her. The baby took up refuge in Bobbie’s arms, reaching a small clawed hand out to bap at its encroaching parent. The creature stared at the baby, and Bobbie could swear she almost sensed disbelief coming off the creature. Then the others showed up.

They climbed her like she was a tree. Jonna, Quinn and Morrie all making their way up her legs and onto her shoulders and head. They wailed out their small cries in a clear fashion of protest as their parent’s head swiveled about, looking between them. Bobbie appreciated the gesture, but her attention was elsewhere.

Despite all the threat to her life, the creature looked in a bad way. A _really_ bad way.

“Are you okay?” Bobbie had to restrain herself from reaching out as she stared at the torn-up creature. It stared for fraction of a second more, before she saw the wobble in its limbs. Then, as though it was a puppet whose strings had been cut, its body collapsed.

Bobbie let out a gasp, covering her mouth in alarm as the creature’s black limbs splayed out under it. It seemed it had used the last bit of its energy to confront her and now… She saw breath pulling in and out through those nostrils so at least she knew it was still alive. At least, it was still alive at the moment.

“Oh shit! Shit, shit, bloody hell!” Bobbie dropped to her knees, coming to rest at the head of the creature. “You are not okay, you are not at all okay!” She stared at the creature, her hands beginning to tremble as the babies began to wail. “Hush, hush.” She said, quickly reaching her hands up to pet their heads. “Um, shit…”

What should she do? She couldn’t just leave this creature here, collapsed on the forest floor. She supposed then there really was only one thing to do.

“Hey, I know you can’t hear me or understand me but I’m going to try and move you, okay?” Bobbie said as she stared at those massive spiked claws. She had an awful vision of them tearing into her as soon as she touched the faintly breathing body, but she decided this was just something she was going to have to risk.

“Okay babies, I’m going to need you to move off of me. Izzy, that means you,” she said firmly as she placed the baby on the ground, shooing the rest as she did so. Carefully, she circled around to the creatures middle, staring at the bloody gashes She was going to have to be careful, though no matter how careful she was she was sure she’d still end up hurting it.

With a firm shove, she rolled the heavily breathing creature onto its belly, trying to see if there were any injuries she should avoid while attempting to move it. As she scanned up and down, searching for wounds she found her eyes drawn to an odd spectacle. Swollen and slightly large a little ways down the creatures chest were two lumps. It took her a second to realize that she was looking at some version of breasts.

“I guess that probably makes you their mum.” She said as she took in a deep breath before sliding her arms underneath the creature. It let out a low chitter, but its body was deadweight as with a heave she brought its bulk over her head, leaning it up around her shoulders. She felt herself stagger as it weighed down on her, sweat pouring from her face. The babies ran about her, chittering wildly as with a grunt she staggered to her feet, holding tightly to an arm and a let of the creature draped over her shoulder.

“I appreciate your input,” Bobbie panted as their mother hung heavy on her shoulders. “But you’re not actually helping.” The chittering did not stop, and Bobbie let out an exhale of air, swaying slightly as she did so.

This creatures was heavy, no doubt heavier than anything Bobbie had ever deadlifted. If she was an even slightly smaller person, she had no doubt she would not be able to carry this creature. Bobbie was mostly muscle, yet as she took her first staggering step forward, her shoulders screaming in protest she took a breath in.

“Just like at the gym,” she told herself a she took another step forward “Just gotta push myself to my limits. Big Mama here is my weight… who could come to life at any moment and tear me to pieces. Just like the gym.”

With as sigh, she blew out a breath of air feeling that the metaphor had gotten away from her a bit as she looked at the babies below her. “Stay close you four.” She said firmly as she began to make slow and steady progress. “I want to be able to shoot at anything that comes at us, understand?

She had her doubts about her ability to shoot in her current state. The gun hung limply on her right side, crushed by one of the mothers limbs. Still, she could always drop her burden if push came to shove.

As for the babies, she was entirely convinced they would behave. But to their credit they did seem to stay close as she staggered across the forest floor, twigs cracking underneath her feet.

It took her at least an hour and a half to make it back to her camp. Between having to stop for rest breaks and the agonizing slowness of hauling the massive creature on her back, she was grateful she made it back at all.

Luckily for her it seemed like a slow day in the Permian, and other than a group of those weird flying lizards swooping above her head along with something big further up in the sky the world seemed quite empty.

Still, she was mostly dead by the time she’d wandered her way into her camp. She staggered into the tree clearing and with aching relief she dropped to her knees, allowing the creature to roll off of her back. She panted, sweat pouring from her as the babies surrounded their still unconscious mother, letting out keening cries of concern. “Right, right, I’m still not done,” Bobbie said, more to herself than anyone as she got to her feet.

There had been medical supplies in the boxes, and Bobbie had taken all of them. She’d actually lugged one of the metal boxes down with her to keep them in as well, along with a bunch of the food. As she fished out what she needed, she pulled out a massive pack of jerky, waving it in the air. “Hey, come eat! I can’t have you all about your mother while I’m trying to take care of her,” Bobbie said as she attracted the attention of the four babies.

They glanced between one another, before quickly complying with her request. The way they tore into the food made Bobbie question if they’d been getting enough to eat over the last couple of days. Not that she blamed the mother, she was clearly in no fit state to hunt. She wondered if the four of them had just been hiding out in that tree while the mom fought to overcome her injuries.

Bobbie would be the first to admit as she knelt down by the black body of the oddly lanky beast that she was not at all confident in her abilities. The last time she’d been forced to treat a wound was when her father had gotten shot twice in the leg and once in the arm during one of his business dealings. He’d refused to go to the hospital and insisted Bobbie just take care of him.

He was always doing that. She got the feeling that he had some old-fashioned belief lodged up in that thick skull of his that girls made better caretakers than boys. Either that or maybe he just didn’t want Richie trying to help him.

That boy wasn’t exactly precise. She remembered back when the two of them had still been in school when he tried to dissect a dead piglet and had managed to cut off one of its feet and an ear before the teacher intervened.

Bobbie smiled at that, carefully taking the rubbing alcohol bottle that was halfway empty. She’d used it to clean out her wounds four days prior, and she hoped she still had enough to get the job done here. Carefully she took a cotton ball and dabbed at the injuries, flinching as the creature let out a pained hiss. Apparently she wasn’t as unconscious as Bobbie would have liked.

“Just hold on there, we’ll have you right as rain in no time.” She said softly, hoping against hope that this calm spell would last throughout this encounter. Judging by the way the creature had acted every time she had been fully conscious and near Bobbie, Bobbie wasn’t keen on having her wake up while Bobbie was in a slightly compromising position.

The injuries were bad, though as Bobbie looked at them only one of them seemed to be in terrible shape. It was leaking white pus and was quite clearly infected, the tissue swollen and red around the deep laceration. The smell that wafted off of the critters body was quite gag worthy, but she kept it together as she cleaned out the wound best she could.

The babies lingered about them, Izzy coming to settle by Bobbie’s knees as she worked on its mother. “She’ll be all right,” Bobbie said to the baby, though she wasn’t sure herself if this was true. Still, she’d seen people recover from worse, so why couldn’t this creature do it as well?

Of course, she’d also seen them die from less. Her mind drifted as she worked, pus and blood covering her hands as she carefully cleaned out the injuries. She remembered when Tommy had died. There had been four of them in the beginning. Bobbie, Ritchie, Tommy and Samantha.

Tommy hadn’t been that old when he’d died. He was the second youngest out of the group of them though, which she supposed put him in a fair share of risk. After all, the smaller you are the easier it is to bite it she supposed.

It had started out so small too. They’d been fucking about in the abandoned lot that was a couple blocks down from their house. The construction was old an unfinished, with half made walls and sharp pipes that had litter the floor.

He’d just slipped, that was all. A quick blow to his head as he’d tumbled backwards from where they’d been climbing. She’d seen him one moment then turned back around to see him on the ground, puddle of blood around his head.

At first she and Ritchie had laughed, it had just been them out that day but as he’d continued to stay still they’d realized it might be serious. He hadn’t even fallen that far, but the angle his head had hit when it struck the ground had just been unfortunate.

How old had he been? She was sure she had been ten, so that would have made him six? Five? She didn’t remember, it was just so long ago. Still, she did remember wondering if she could have done something to prevent it. Not that it had mattered. Tommy was one of those things that had just been dismissed, her parents barely grieving for him. She wondered if they would have grieved for her. Wondered if they were grieving for her.

She doubted it, quickly wrapped the last of the bandages up around the mothers lanky arm, all her wounds tended to. Her family had never been about that touchy-feely stuff, never dabbled in affection. That’s why Bobbie had been so attached to Laurie. It had nice to be loved, if only for a time. Yet when she’d let her go she’d also understood.

After all, nothing lasted forever.

With a sigh, she looked down at the creature who still lay in a semi-conscious heap. “Well, let’s hope you do better then my little brother eh?” She said, giving a slightly stressed half smile as she reached out and patted the creatures head. She shifted, giving out a chittering half snarl as she did. Bobbie quickly pulled her hand away, deciding that she’d like to keep it as she hastily backed away. “Right, I’ll give you a bit of space.”

She took a couple steps back, before glancing towards the gathered babies. They were pacing back and forth across the area’s, small worried chitters passing between them. Bobbie noted they looked a bit skinny and glanced back at her food storage. She didn’t have enough to keep them all going for too long, not unless she went hunting.

She paused, there was an interesting idea. Bobbie had never gone hunting before, but now the idea seemed unavoidable.

That was a problem for future Bobbie though. Right now she had to decide on how to set up her camp to accommodate the new arrivals.

The babies were the easiest to place and in the end there was really only one place for ‘Big Mama’ as she’d taken to call her. Bobbie did not like giving up her tent, but even she had to admit it was likely the safest of places. Wedged in between the rocks it seemed to be the easiest place to guard. She’d fetched her sleeping bag from the tent, but had also lined it with the emergency blankets she’d found in the metal chests, along with anything else soft she could get her hands on. Her dirty clothes may have smelled a bit rank, but they made fine bedding when push came to shove.

Of course, then came the matter of getting the creature into the tent. It may have been easy enough when she was unconscious, but when Bobbie had finally stopped rustling about and turned to face her once more, she found her movements were being tracked.

The creature, once more conscious had her head angled towards Bobbie. She watched her with the same energy a cat watches a mouse scurry across the floor.

It was only then and there that it occurred to Bobbie that she’d brought a rather dangerous creature into her camp. A creature that was capable of rending her in two if it so pleased. Still, she decided now was not the time to lose courage.

“You’re awake I see,” she kept her voice low and friendly as she gestured towards her tent. The creature did not move, head angled slightly as it continued to watch her.

“Can I get you to come in here?” Bobbie asked, tapping the tent.

The creature observed her from where it sat, not moving an inch. “You’re babies like it.” Bobbie said in an encouraging voice as she walked over towards where Quinn and Morrie were wrestling. The creature hissed, suddenly tensing as she approached the small figures and Bobbie paused, putting her hands in the air “Easy there, I’m not out to hurt anyone,” she eyed the creature who slowly relaxed back down onto the ground, her bandaged limbs trembling ever so slightly.

Bobbie knelt down near the babies, scooping up Quinn with ease. Quinn squeaked its protests, angling its head to look up at her as it did so. “Don’t be whiny,” Bobbie chastised as she walked towards the tent, placing Quinn down at the entrance. “Now go in there and show your mommy that it’s not so bad.”

Quinn paused on the threshold, before happily bouncing off into Bobbie’s tent. As though signaled, the other babies quickly made their way over, clearly curious in what Bobbie was sharing with Quinn. “See, its safe.” Bobbie said, stepping back and gesturing towards the tent.

The creature did not move, so Bobbie took several steps away from the structure. She waited and waited and as she began to give up hope, she suddenly saw the creatures limbs twitch. In a second it was scuttling across the ground, moving so fast her eyes had a hard time tracking it. It was through the tent flap and hidden inside within a second, leaving Bobbie outside in a bit of a daze. “Damn you’re fast.” She muttered as she walked over to the metal box, pulling out another large bag of jerky.

She was thankful that the deceased soldiers had had such a hankering for dried meats, she wasn’t sure what she would have done if it had been nothing but dehydrated fruit when she’d opened it up.

With a quick toss, she through the plastic bag full of meat so it landed directly outside the tent. There was a brief heartbeat, before a massive clawed hand darted out, dragging the food into the depths of the now occupied tent. Bobbie let out a sigh as she cracked her knuckles. At least that was dealt with. Sure, she had doomed herself to sleeping outside, but she was okay with that.

At least now she wasn’t completely alone. Now she had the company of a massive man-eating beast, along with its babies. Bobbie smiled to herself, nodding her head. She could see no way this could go poorly for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie's main activity is actively risking her life. After all, why else would you bring a massive ass predator that hadn't eaten in awhile into your camp?


	7. A Nice Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbie goes hunting and takes a bath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How at risk is Bobbie from being eaten by her wards mother? How dangerous is bathing in prehistoric times? Let's find out.

Bobbie carefully aimed the machine gun, her eyes focused beyond the rocks she was crouching behind. The creature she was aiming for was squat and dark looking, waddling across the ground in an awkward fashion.

It was about the size of a cow and its thick claws scratched the dirt as it moved, head bobbing up and down as it seemed to forage. Bobbie watched it with narrowed eyes, feeling her fingers twitching on the trigger of her gun. It was so close, but she had to take her shot carefully. She didn’t want to accidently graze it and have it come charging at her and her small companion.

Speaking of her small companion.

Izzy gave a quiet cheep as it wobbled on her shoulder, causing Bobbie’s aim to twitch off of the target. With a frustrated sigh, glancing over at the baby.

“You know... you’re really not helping buddy,” she muttered as she once more aimed the gun carefully, deciding to try for a shot on the head. “You want to eat right?”

Izzy stilled slightly and Bobbie quickly lined up her gun, taking in a deep breath. Sure, she could rapid fire from this thing, but the problem with that was it riddled the meat with gunpowder and lead, making it inedible. Just a couple bullets, that’s what she was hoping for.

She squeezed the trigger and the gun fired a brief of bullets into the creatures head. They tore through the flesh, leaving bloody holes behind as the creature let out a cry and staggered. Izzy let out a excited squeak on Bobbie’s shoulder climbing onto her head in what appeared to be an attempt to get a better view and Bobbie once more found herself questioning how these creatures actually saw.

“Is it down?” Asked Bobbie, rising slightly to peer over the rock. She stared at the limp and bloody body on the ground suspiciously. The last time she’d thought she’d downed a meal, it had taken the animal only a minute to be back on its feet.

That time it had been some form of triceratops, or at least that’s what she thought it must have been. Regardless, it had tried to gore her, and she’d narrowly escaped it. She waited a good several minutes, before she felt her shoulders relax slightly. Surely, if it was alive it would have moved by now.

To be fair, half of its head was clearly off so she’d be surprised if it was still alive. Regardless, she wasn’t risking it. She flipped the guns safety before slinging it across her back, wiping sweat from her brow as she staggered to her feet. Her legs tingled as pins and needles made their way up her shins.

She’d been crouched behind that rock for a good four hours waiting for the perfect shot. It was a relief to finally be moving again and she could tell Izzy felt the same as the baby slid down from her head, its claws tearing slightly at her clothes as it descended to the ground.

“We got dinner!” Bobbie said, feeling a wave of relief as she began to walk forward. “About time.”

Hunting was never Bobbie’s forte. Her brother had at one point gone over to America with his fiancée Jessica and he’d come back with stories of stalking the woods looking for deer. Apparently her parents owned a hunting cabin, which Richie had describe as a place covered in furs and mounted heads. He’s spent a week up there was Jessica and her father hunting in the woods and according to him it had been one hell of a fun time.

Bobbie had never seen the appeal personally, but Richie had assured her it was quite a bit of fun. In fact, he’d managed to talk her into coming with him and Jessica to some of the local shooting ranges afterwards to practice with his new rifle that he’d bought. “I’ll bet he’d lose his mind if he could see this.” Bobbie commented as she walked over to the collapsed creature on the ground, looking it over one last time to make sure it wasn’t breathing. The last thing she wanted was for it to come alive while she was trying to clean it. That would be both gruesome _and_ traumatizing.

Bobbie had been careful when it came to hunting. Over the past week and a half she’d made two other kills not including the one she currently had. She made a point not to shoot anything to big, aware that leaving a carcass about her camp was a good way to lure in big scavengers looking for a kill to steal. That being said, she wasn’t exactly knowledgeable on how to clean kills once one shot them.

“This is why you wanted to come along isn’t it?” Bobbie said as Izzy danced about her feet, head inclined an eager fashion towards the dead beast in front of them. As she pulled out her knife, crouching down by the corpse. Izzy stilled. Bobbie knew full well that the baby was looking to get feed meat scraps. She shook her head with a small smile, before quickly taking her knife and cutting the throat of the creature below her.

One last measure to make absolutely sure that the creature was dead before she started cutting it up.

Izzy scrambled into the blood bath, ripping at chunks of flesh around the severed neck. Good, that would keep the baby occupied. Bobbie turned her attention to the rest of the cadaver. It was hard work, cutting loose massive slabs of flesh.

Her butcher job was sketchy at best, leaving massive chunks of meat behind as her hunting knife grazed ribs while she worked. Still, she managed to tear loose slab after slab of meat, carefully stacking the bleeding flesh into heavy duty garbage bags she’d found in the metal boxes.

Once secured inside of the plastic, she slid them into her backpack, compacting them down as far as they would go.

As she worked, Izzy feasted on the meat left behind, clearly having the time of its life. It’s small black body became more and more bloody as it slid between ribs, eating away at the insides of the beast. It was revolting to watch, but Bobbie stomached it as she focused on her task.

She didn’t like the butchering process. Not so much for the blood and gore that was staining her hands, but because she always got the sense that she was making herself out to smell like quite a nice snack to any predatory creatures that might be in the area.

The last thing she wanted was for something big to decided it wanted to take a chunk out of her. After all, she didn’t have an unlimited supply of bullets. She wiped her forehead, leaving a stain of blood behind as she cut the last slab of what she wanted free from the body.

It was only a partial butcher job, but it was good enough. Besides, she could hear something pacing about in the brush not far away and she wasn’t keen on coming face to face with whatever it was.

“All right, time to go Izzy,” she said, reaching down for her pack and hefting it onto her shoulders. She looked down to see that Izzy was not in sight. “Izzy, get out of the corpse!” She said, dropping to her knees and thrusting a hand inside the gaping neck wound, furiously grabbing for the baby.

She found it pretty quickly, dragging it out by the scruff of its neck as it squealed in protest. She heard something let out a growl from somewhere off in the woods beyond and hastily tucked the squalling baby under her arm.

“Enough out of you! Honestly, you keep that up and I’ll leave you at camp next time. I’m serious, I’ll ground you!” the baby quieted, much to her relief as she hastily made her way away from the kill, watching as something big eyed them from the tree line.

The walk back home wasn’t so bad. Bobbie had memorized the path and as she walked along, pack heavy on her back she took in her odd surroundings. The trees were strange here. They were massive, with the oddest of leaves sprouting from them.

They made her think of pictures of the tropic she had seen, and she supposed the temperature matched that feeling. The air always had a humid, almost stuffy feel to it. He feet stumbled slightly as her shoulders ached from the weight she was carrying. Her backpack straps strained and as always, she hopped against hope they weren’t about to break on her. If they broke on her, she had no idea what she was going to do.

As she stepped into camp, Izzy jumped from her arms, staggering to its stand on its legs as it ran towards its siblings. They were playing in the center of camp, a little ways off from the tent. Bobbie watched with amusement as Izzy quickly dropped down to all fours next to Quinn, tugging at a bone the other had been gnawing on.

The baby let out a squall, as the two proceeded to tug it back and forth between them. “You two play nice!” Warned Bobbie, before she glanced towards the tent. She always felt a bit weird when it came to disciplining the babies. It was like yelling at someone else’s kids when they were in earshot.

Big Mama was making a recovery, which was good in some ways and bad in others. The good news was now Bobbie was fairly sure she was no longer going to die, which meant that she could once more nurse her babies and take care of them to some extent. The bad news was she was getting more mobile and her opinions on Bobbie hadn’t seemed to change that much.

Just yesterday Bobbie had attempted to open up the tent flap to check on her, and she’d lashed out with those massive claws, cutting a nasty slash right across Bobbie’s chest. It hadn’t been more than skin deep, Bobbie had jerked back quite quickly, but it had still stung quite bad. She’d washed it out in the creek, but it had opened up a potential problem that Bobbie hadn’t considered.

Bobbie had been so busy trying to help the creature, she wasn’t sure what exactly it would do once it was healed. She’d have liked to say that the creature was going to simply be happy she’d helped it, but even Bobbie had enough sense to know it was unlikely this would happen.

The creature was volatile and aggressive and if she was being completely honest, she was a little bit afraid of her. If she healed and decided that she wanted Bobbie as a snack, well… Bobbie didn’t think she’d be able to defend herself. She’d seen how fast the creature was when it was at its peak, how strong. Besides, she knew damn well that she wasn’t going to shot the creature she’d spent so much time taking care of.

With a sigh, Bobbie dropped down the pack, opening it up to pull out a garbage bag full of raw meat. “Alright babies, time for your lunch,” she said as she took a thick slab, quickly slicing it into four chunks. She heard them skittering across the ground towards her and she held up a hand as they approached. “Hey! Hey… you know the rules, go sit at the table.”

The table as she’d come to call it, was one of the metal boxes. She’d found a couple of large rocks to act as chairs and she’d started to enforce the rule that while eating the babies had to be sitting down. It was a ploy to make sure that it was easy to wash away the blood that always covered them after ever meal. The babies were shockingly quick learners as well.

Not just with this, but they’d begun to grasp the concept of the poop hole that Bobbie had made outside of camp.

Bobbie shuddered, she didn’t like thinking about the poop hole. It was a gross place.

As the babies settled down in their seats, she placed their food in front of them. They waited, chittering impatiently as she stood up. “Okay, now you may eat,” she said, smiling as they dug in, small claws slicing away at the chunks of flesh.

She turned away from the table, walking back over to the open garbage bag, fishing out another massive chunk of meat. With careful movements, she approached the tent, kneeling down on her knees a couple of feet away. Her chest gave a warning throb and she unconsciously patted it “Right, not to close,” she muttered to herself, before she called out in her warmest voice.

“Hey, Big Mama, I’ve got food for you!” Carefully, she threw the food, the meat thumping outside the tent.

She watched intently, waiting for it to be snatched inside like it always was. To her surprise, a long black arm reached out, pushing the tent flap aside as Big Mama partially emerged. She seemed to study Bobbie for a second, before cocking her head.

Bobbie looked behind her and saw that the babies had begun to have a bit of a food fight. It seemed Jonna had thrown some of its meat, and now Quinn and Morrie were retaliating. “Guys! Food is for eating, not throwing! Don’t make me come over there,” Bobbie warned. The babies arms hastily lowered leaving Bobbie, as always, slightly surprised.

They really were quite intelligent. Bobbie wasn’t sure how intelligent exactly, but she had a chart going in her mind. They had thus far surpassed a dog and cat and were now on the same level as monkeys. They just seemed so quick to pick up on what she was asking them, it was honestly a little bit eerie sometimes. Almost like they could, to some degree, understand what she was saying.

She heard a low chitter, too deep to be from the babies and her head spun around. Big Mama had finished consuming her portion and was now pulling herself free from the tent. This was new Bobbie thought as she backed up, giving the creature space and herself running room.

Bobbie stared at her carefully as she emerged, taking in the injuries. The wounds on the creatures back, underbelly and limbs were still quite obvious. It was clear that they would scar, but now the infection was gone. The injuries seemed to be a healthy color.

Big Mama stretched out as she stumbled slightly on the ground. Bobbie watched her, holding her breath as she felt excitement and slight alarm beat in her chest. “You’re up and about!” She said and the creature gave an odd chitter. Her head cocked towards Bobbie and she let out another chitter. For a second, Bobbie had the oddest feeling that she had just been asked a question.

Of course, she had no idea what that question might have been so all she could do was shrug it off as she quickly walked over to her back full of meat. “Well let’s get you a bit more fed, you still look shaky on those limbs.” Big Mama ignored her, walking up to her babies who were gathered at the metal box.

The children had spent a lot of time with their mother during her recovery. At night, all four of them would pile into the tent, no doubt snuggling up to their mother as they all slept. Bobbie had thought it was quite cute, but was less charmed by the fact that she had been downgraded to sleeping outside. The first few nights had been rough. Sleeping out in the open during a prehistoric time was not what Bobbie would describe as a good time.

Still, she hadn’t complained, even though her back had begun to ache slightly from the uneven ground. The babies called out with soft cries as their mother crouched on all four, two fingered hand ghosting over their heads as she seemed to listen to their small voices. Bobbie took a seat a little ways away, trying to gauge how well Big Mama was doing.

It was true she was up and about, but what also was true was the amount of bed sores that littered her skin. In some places, the fur had been worn away slightly, leaving behind a nasty chaffing. She hadn’t been doing a lot of moving during that week and a half and it wasn’t as though Bobbie could get into the tent to change out the bedding.

Truth be told, she had been a little nervous to try.

She’d been bringing Big Mama food and water throughout the entire ordeal, but she had no idea where the creature was doing her business. She didn’t smell anything particularly bad from the tent, but she was still a bit anxious to get a look inside.

Big Mama glanced over at her and on instinct she raised her hand and gave a small wave. “Well, since you’re out and about, I’m going to go wash off before this blood stains on me to bad,” she said as she began to walk towards the creek, stretching her limbs out as she went.

As she walked, she heard small footsteps and in a second she was swarmed by the babies. Quinn and Izzy climbed her as Jonna and Morrie darted between her feet. “Izzy, no shoulders!” Bobbie said, quickly grabbing the viscera covered baby. “You need a bath before you’re allowed up there!”

She glanced behind her and felt her heartbeat speed up slightly. Big Mama was following at a slight distance. Her eyeless face bore into the back of Bobbie’s head and Bobbie felt heat flush to her cheeks. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt like the creature might be judging her. The thing was she didn’t know what she would be judging her on.

Her parenting skills maybe? Bobbie sure hoped not.

The walk to the creek was uneventful, which Bobbie considered a blessing. It sometimes felt like everything in these woods were out to get here and she lived in constant fear of being jumped. This fear was not elevated by the fact that at the moment, she knew for a fact a very dangerous creature was trailing just a little ways behind her.

“You can walk up here if you like,” Bobbie called back to Big Mama, glancing behind her shoulder. The creature did not react to her words, limbs twitching slightly as she continued to walk. “Or you can stay back there, that’s also fine.”

They made it to the creek in good time. As Bobbie pressed through the undergrowth, coming to the stone strewn beach she cleared her throat as she saw the babies stiffen with obvious excitement. “Remember the rules!” She said, hoping against hope they’d listen to her.

To her relief, the babies came to a stop, huddling into a little group as they looked up at Bobbie. “Good, good,” Bobbie said as she flicked the safety off the gun she still carried. Carefully, she approached the creek.

Despite how clear the water was, Bobbie did not trust it. The creek wasn’t that deep, only coming up to Bobbie’s chest in the very deepest parts. That was deep enough though, deep enough for _things_ to be in it.

She hadn’t even been worried about it up until five days back when she’d had come down to get some water to boil. She’d waded out a little ways into creek in an effort to avoid debris. They water had been up to her knees, so she really hadn’t been thinking about it.

As she’d dipped her pot in, the water near her had begun to boil. Something had jumped out of the water at her. It had almost looked like a combination of a shark and an eel. Its body had been muddy in coloration, with long fins snaking down its back. It had been big to, about the size of a large dog.

The other thing that had been big, and very sharp were the teeth it had sunk into her leg before she managed to put several bullets into its head. She probably should have taken the carcass with her when she left, but the encounter had made her anxious enough that she retreated from the creek quickly. If she hadn’t had her gun…

After this, she’d gone out of her way to make sure they stayed in the more shallow parts of the creek where the water was clear. The only good thing about that encounter had been the fact that the creature had chosen to attack her and not one of the four babies who’d been playing on the banks that day. They’d have been nothing but bite sized morsels to the massive thing.

Bobbie carefully approached the water, noting that Big Mama had paused as well. She was watching Bobbie intently as she neared the creek. Bobbie turned away, picking up a stone and preparing to chuck it into the water. She’d taken to doing this, finding that it tended to disturb anything that might be hiding beneath the surface.

Before she could though, she was shoved aside as Big Mama walked past her. She hadn’t even heard her approach. Bobbie took a couple of hasty steps back, before relaxing as she realized that the creature clearly wasn’t interested in her. She paused at the edged of the water, before stepping into it.

“Oh, you might want to be careful...” Bobbie began, but trailed off as the creature turned that blank face to stare directly at her. Bobbie shut her mouth as the creature turned away from her, calling out to its gathered children.

The babies looked between one another, before glancing at Bobbie. “I mean, if your mother says its safe…” Bobbie said, feeling a bit nervous. Maybe Big Mama could see something she couldn’t. After all, it was clear they could navigate without eyes, so maybe their senses were keener than hers. Maybe Big Mama would have known if there was something bad lingering in the water. Bobbie watched as the babies splashed into the shallows, and she took in a deep breath as she gave a nervous chuckle.

“Right, I suppose its bath time then,” She pulled off her pants and shirt, stacking her gun on top of them as she wandered into the water. It was cool, washing away the sweat and blood that clung to her arms as she knelt down by the babies who were dutifully waiting for her. Bath time was well established at this point. Bobbie would be the first to admit she wasn’t the most sensitive to smells, but the babies carnivorous diets had sure made them stink if they weren’t washed.

Along the bank of this creek, Bobbie had actually dug out a small pit, lining it with rocks to create a bit of a baby swimming pool. For the most part, they were good about going into it when they were ready to bathe, all accept Morrie who she constantly caught trying to wander into far deeper water. She knelt down by the babies as she carefully began to scrub them off, starting with Izzy who was by far the worst offender of the day.

“You know, I don’t think your mum is keen on me,” she whispered to them, glancing out at the massive ape like beast who was bathing herself a little ways away from them. “Think she’s planning on eating me?” She looked back at the babies who gave small clicks and cheeps as the splashed about in the water. “Not the answer I was looking for, but I’ll take it,” Bobbie said with a laugh.

It took her about half an hour before the babies were bathed, their squirming about doing little to help the process. Once she’d gotten the worst of the filth off of them, she released them back into the water, rising up to her feet and stretching. She glanced around, noting that Big Mama had left the water and was now sitting on the shore, drying off in the sun. Her dark body was still quite wet and her nostrils slowly flared in and out. Bobbie got the feeling that she was keeping watch which made her confident there was at least no dangers on the shore.

She glanced back towards the deeper water, eyeing it carefully. It all seemed safe enough. She glanced back towards her gun that sat on shore, considering it. She didn’t like taking it in with her when she bathed, her worry being that the water would somehow fuck it up.

Honestly, what were the chances of something dangerous being in the water anyways? Bobbie gave a shrug of her shoulders as she waded in a bit deeper. She was in desperate need of a cleaning, and the blood that still clung to her was making her very uncomfortable. Plus, she would be the first to admit when it came to her own safety she rarely learned her lesson.

She kept striding through the water till it rose to her waist. She paused here, deciding this was deep enough as she began rubbing herself down with a bar of soap she’d found in one of the metal crates. The water’s chill bit and nipped at her as she hummed softly to herself. The current around her was not that powerful, slithering between her legs as it gently tugged on her.

Bobbie glanced down at her semi naked form and let out a soft exhale. She was pretty banged up now that she was really looking. Her arms had barely healed cuts all across them, and other bites and scratches covered her whole body. Plus, there was that gaping wound on her chest that Big Mama had given her the previous day along with the bite mark on her leg from the freshwater eel shark.

She watched as blood leaked out of the injury on her chest, swirling off behind her in a stream of red. As she watched, she got the nagging feeling that being in the water with an open wound was a no no. She couldn’t remember why though, so with a shrug of her large shoulders ignored it as she continued to bathe.

Besides, it was actually quite nice out. The sun was hot, beating down on her and warming the upper half of her body as she washed away the build up of grime that clung to her. She let out a happy exhale, stretching up her arms above her head. It was nice, having a moment of peace now and then.

That moment of piece was broken by a commotion on shore. Her head whipped around and she staggered back slightly as she took in a rather alarming scene. Big Mama wasn’t sunbathing anymore. She was on her feet and from her mouth poured furious chittering and snarls.

Bobbie stared at her, confused to why her gaze seemed to be locked on her. Had her bathing irritated her… somehow? There was splashes and Bobbie looked over to see the babies hastily run onto the bank, skittering beside their mother. They turned back, their small voices joining their mothers as they waved their gangly limbs at her.

Bobbie stared at them blankly as she rubbed a soap bar in her armpit.

“Everything okay over there?” She called out, feeling a sudden swell of water near her right leg. She didn’t bother to look down, still focused on Big Mama. What was her problem? Big Mama let out a furious snarl, slamming her two fingered clawed hand onto the ground.

“Bloody hell, calm down,” Bobbie said, clutching her soap to her. The creatures face remained towards her and she felt like she was giving her a very pointed look.

“What?” Bobbie asked gesturing about her.

Then, with a sudden painful yank, something grabbed Bobbie’s ankle, dragging her underwater. She was traveling downstream fast as her eyes opened underwater, hand hands scrabbling for purchase on the gravel caked bottom.

Shit she mentally swore as her mind finally put the very simple puzzle pieces together, it was another one of those things wasn’t it? Her lungs gasped for air -- Bobbie had never been to good at holding her breath.

With a quick motion she kicked out, trying to strike at the thing that was hauling her at breakneck speed through the water. Her foot connected and it let her go as she struggled her way to the surface, feet backpedaling towards the shore. She saw its fins as the things greyish brown body turned about in the water.

It seemed… larger that the previous one. Where the first one had been the size of a dog, this one was the size of a small pony. Along with that, this one was clearly different that the one that had previously attacked her. She couldn’t make out much of it as it charged her, but she could see that its face was oddly blunt, its mouth lined with teeth.

It was lightning fast and Bobbie held out her arms in front of her preparing for another bite. “Shit!” Bobbie said as she slipped on the rocking bottom of the river. She really wished she’d brought her gun as she watched the creatures jaws opening with a snap.

Then there was an gigantic splash as a black blur landed in the water beside her. In a second, the water clouded with blood. Sharp claws flashed in and out as Big Mama chittered furiously, landing blow after blow on the creatures slender body. Bobbie kept backing up, clutching her leg. She could feel that some of the flesh was flapping slightly and she instinctually knew she’d need to wrap it in more bandages.

It seemed that some of Big Mama’s fighting spirit had returned as she made short work of the other creature. Bobbie watched as the creatures body rose to the surface, beginning to float downstream. Big Mama watched it go, her black body soaked as she retreated out from the creek. Bobbie collapsed onto the bank, gripping her leg as she took in a couple of breaths.

In a second she was surrounded in by a pile of furiously cheeping babies. They ran about her, arms waving at her in a fashion she felt could have only been to tell her off. She glanced down at her leg, grimacing at the large portion that hung limply from it.

She had a bad feeling that she was going to have to stitch it up.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Bobbie said, as the babies continued their flurry of irritable noises. “Serves me right really. Honestly, I had no idea what you were trying to say.” Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she could almost feel the judgement from everyone around her.

She glanced over, finding that Big Mama’s gaze was once more on her. Her eyeless stare was by far the most judgy of them all Bobbie thought. “Sorry,” Bobbie said with an awkward laugh. The creature gave a low chitter, taking a couple of aggressive steps towards her. She through her arm into the air in what Bobbie interpreted to be an exasperated gesture.

“Yeah, I know. I was dumb,” Bobbie said with a helpless shrug of her shoulders. “Thanks for the assist though.”

The creature huffed, turning away to glance down the path they’d come up. Bobbie staggered to her feet, blood still pouring down her leg. “Well, guess we’d better get back. I’ve got a bit of first aid to practice.”

She staggered over to her clothes, hastily pulling them on as she slung the gun over her shoulders. As she finished the task, she looked back to find that Big Mama hadn’t moved. She sat there, her babies having gathered onto her back.

She was waiting for Bobbie.

“Guess you like me more than I thought,” Bobbie said, feeling a small wave of surprise. “Right then, I’m ready to head back.” The creature rose and slowly began to walk back, her head swiveling back every now and then, clearly making sure that Bobbie was following. Bobbie obliged, staggering slightly as she did her best to keep up with the creature and her children, her leg dripping a trail of blood behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that Bobbie is the sort of person where you could yell 'duck' at her and she'd look around and ask 'what duck?'


End file.
